Dauntless
by HungryPeanut
Summary: The Royal Military College was founded a few centuries ago and the traditional laws that were instaured at the time still remained. One of those laws stipulating clearly that only male students were allowed to apply for the formation. But here Lucy was, standing among the other recruits in the ranks, dressed as a man. Rated M for mature themes and later explicit content.
1. Chapter 1: The sheep among the wolves

**PART I – Resolution**

Chapter I – The sheep among the wolves

* * *

" _The only honorable, desirable kind of fear that shouldn't be feared is the fear of harm on a loved one. It's the kind of fear that leads to self-sacrifice and the kind of fear where you would truly jump in front of a bus to save another."_

― _Criss Jami, Diotima, Battery, Electric Personality_

* * *

How far would you go for the sake of your family? For your mother? For your brother? Would you fight for them? Would you put your life on the line to protect them? I feel very sad for people who didn't have the chance to be born into a loving family which they can trust and love with all their heart because I believe that such a family often becomes your pillar. If you're sad, they will console you, if you're scared, they will force you to face your fears, if you fall, they will laugh at you but help you up in the end. And if you were to disappear, they would go on a rampage through the whole world to find you.

* * *

"Welcome, gentlemen," the instructor declaimed, "to this country's best military academy, The Royal Military College. Each and everyone of you had to take multiple tests during those last two months and I'm proud to tell you that you were accepted into the formation. Congratulations, men, and welcome to the 156th Training Brigade."

The recruits saluted simultaneously. This ceremony was the reward for their hard work and success at passing the army's tests. The formation would last two years, at the end of which they would receive the medal corresponding to their officer rank and chose their corps. The Royal Military College was the most renowned academy of the country, maybe even the best on the continent. The officers that got out of the academy with their degree were immediately offered ranks of high responsibilities and some even got to work in collaboration with the Chief of State. But the academy was founded a few centuries earlier and the traditional laws that were established at the time still remained. One of those laws stipulating clearly that only male students were allowed to apply to the formation. But here Lucy was, standing among the other recruits in the ranks with her acceptance letter in the pocket of her khaki uniform. Dressed as a man. Under the scorching sun, the air was stifling and the fabric of her uniform itched greatly as it stuck to her sweaty skin.

"During the two years you will spend at the College," the instructor went on, "we will teach you military history and the arts, how to fight, with weapons and barehanded, how to make up a strategy, a battle plan. We will test your abilities as soldiers, as leaders, your courage and values. You will be evaluated every month and those of you who cannot match our expectations will be thrown out. Half of you will drop out before the end of the first year."

He gestured to one of the soldiers that was standing next to him and the recruits were handed paper sheets.

"This is the program of the week," the instructor explained. "It will change at the start of each semester and you are to respect the schedule if you wish to attend classes, which I highly recommend for those of you who plan to make it out of here with their grade."

Standing beside and behind their instructor were three older men with stern faces and intense looks. One of them leaned in to whisper into the instructor's ear. During the few seconds that were needed for whatever the bulky, blonde man had to say to be said, Lucy observed the man that would be her commander for the next two years. He wasn't as tall as the men that were standing by his side, but was still taller than Lucy and most of the recruits. He was wearing a black tight tank top that showed off his toned arms and slim waist along with military camouflage pants and combat boots made of shined black leather. That much was normal for a soldier, but what was a bit surprising was the white scaly scarf wrapped loosely around his neck and the color of his hair. It was pink... Well, a dark shade of pink, to be fair, but still pink. The young woman snapped out of her distracted state of mind when said instructor turned his eyes back to them and straightened up.

"Lieutenant Dreyar here," the instructor started, "reminded me of a subject I had forgotten to talk about. Well, to be honest, looking at you I just thought it was useless to mention it, but I guess even you girlies have the right to know."

What a charming man...

"At the end of your instruction," he explained, "a ranking will be established with your scores. Those of you who get more than two thousand points will be allowed to apply for the Elite Squad but you will get more explanations during your Military History Class. Only ten positions are available for the Squad."

Lucy gulped. This was it. The Elite Squad. Her ultimate goal. She was so close now, she only had to withstand two years in the academy, and she would have all the cards in hands. She was bringing her father home, no matter what.

"This is it for now," the instructor declared. "Those gentlemen will show you to your rooms. I want to see you all at 7 p.m. at the refectory, you have three hours to settle in. My name's Natsu Dragneer but you will call me commander. Any question? No? Good. You may get lost."

The campus was huge and Lucy was surprised to see some girls in a building situated away from the main block. Lieutenant Dreyar explained them that this building and the one behind it were reserved for the girls that aspired to become military nurses and that this was a forbidden area for them.

"I'm serious," he growled, "if we catch one of you in there..."

He never clearly told them what would happen in that case, but it wasn't very difficult to guess. The dorms were very large and very white. The walls were white, the floor was white, the ceiling was white and the uniforms of the residents were white.

"Each room contained two beds, two wardrobes, two tables and chairs and an affiliated bathroom," Lieutenant Dreyar explained as they walked along the corridors.

"I will now give you your keys and let you go put your stuff in your respective rooms. Room 111: Alzack Connell and Elfman Strauss, room 112: Gray Fullbuster and Warren Rocko, room 113: Vijeeter Ecor and Max Alors."

This went on for a while and each pair that was being called would walk to take a key from the Lieutenant's hand before leaving to find their room. A lot of recruits were disappointed when they were not sharing a room with a friend, but they were still some that looked like middle schoolers on a field trip, like those two: Jet and Droy.

"I don't care if you're happy or not," the lieutenant growled, "keep it down. Room 134: Loke Shishikyū and Luc Hear... Luc."

Lucy internally sighed in relief and thanked the lieutenant from the bottom of her heart. She was hiding her true gender from everybody, but she had had to give her real surname when applying for the academy. Heartfilia, the name of the traitor. Her life at the academy would be hellish if her comrades were to hear about her name. A boy with ginger hair and a very playful smile took one of the two keys that the lieutenant was holding and Lucy took the second one. The room was bigger than she had expected, but just as white as anticipated. She put her large bag at the feet of her bed and immediately started to make the bed with the sheets that had been provided. Loke laughed when he saw her working on her bed and took out his own sheets from his bag.

"It's fine if you're okay with those depressing things, but I'm putting my own sheets on," he said with a cheery voice.

His bedding set was colored with caramel and gold and decorated with cute little lions. He glanced at the small clock in the room when he was done and sighed.

"It's already this late," he whined. "Too bad, I wanted to talk with you for a bit, but I have to call my girlfriends. See ya!"

Lucy watched him leave the room with a frown. Girlfriends? Well, it was none of her business. At least, the guy looked nice enough and it's not like she was in any danger with her current appearance. She sat on her bed when she was done putting her belongings in the wardrobe and let her eyes fix themselves on Loke's bedding set. It really was much cuter and felt much warmer than her own military set, but she didn't have anything else. She hesitated. She had her Plue plush in her bag and it definitely would help her feel comfortable if she could sleep with it, but a soldier wasn't exactly supposed to cuddle a plush to fall asleep. What would her roommate think? In the end she let the plush in the bag and left to go in search of the refectory. She finally managed to find it thanks to very loud bunch that was heading there too. Once inside, she quickly noted that everyone was free to sit wherever they wanted in this happy and noisy bunch, there was no table for the new recruits. She stood in a side of the place for a moment, searching for a seat, when she heard someone call her, well him.

"Hey Luc! Here!"

Loke was sitting with a group of new recruits and instructors, he had kept her a chair next to him. She smiled and headed there, the guy really was nice. Loke's arm went to rest on her shoulders when she sat down and she had to resist the urge to push him.

"I thought you'd want to eat with us since you don't know anyone else," he smiled. "So, here with the cold face is Gray, he's an ass, but kind of cool too."

The boy in question didn't look offended in the slightest and Loke went on.

"This guy that looks like a gang member is Gajeel. Next to him is Alzack which is possibly even quieter than you. The huge guy with white hair is Elfman and next to him are our beloved instructors."

Natsu Dragneel and Lieutenant Dreyar were there as well as two others, a redhead that looked as redoubtable as kind and a small old man with grey hair that really didn't fit in the military setting.

"Guys, this is Luc," Loke cheered, "my roommate."

They nodded to her.

"Hi Luc."

"Yeah."

"Another real man!"

The old petite instructor greeted her as well as the redhead, but their commander and the lieutenant ignored everyone and everything that wasn't their meal.

"It's nice to meet you," Lucy answered.

The guys sitting with her suddenly looked a bit surprised and even the commander discreetly eyed her from his seat. Loke just smirked.

"What?" she asked.

"Nothing," her roommate beamed, "it's just that your voice is so light, it's cute."

Light? She had made sure to talk with a deeper voice than usual, though... She needed to be more careful.

"Don't call me cute," she countered coldly.

Loke laughed wholeheartedly and petted her head.

"You don't like it?" he giggled. "Fine, I won't do it anymore."

This guy was just way too easy going. The commander's eyes went back to his food and Lucy internally sighed. She couldn't have her identity exposed when she was so close to her aim. They were already too many people in on the secret.

Before going through the tests to integrate the academy, each recruit had to undergo a medical examination with one of the academy's doctors. Fortunately, one of the doctors in charge of the examinations was her childhood friend and the blonde managed to catch her attention while the recruits were sitting in the waiting room. The doctor's name was Erza Scarlet and her face when she recognised Lucy had been hilarious. Erza had called for her and locked the door behind her. It had been then that Lucy had exposed her crazy plan to the redhead and asked for her help.

"You..." Erza had trailed. "You do realize that failure means death, right?"

Lucy had nodded. She was aware that she wasn't just going to get thrown out if she was found out. But surprisingly it was still the safest plan she had formed. Erza had agreed to help her and it was the best support Lucy could have asked for. But even Erza wouldn't be able to save her if her instructors were to discover who she was. Of course, they wouldn't hurt her or anything but they would report her to the headquarter, probably not knowing that it would be the same as killing her.

"And that would make her the seventeenth," Loke laughed. "What about you, Luc?"

"What?"

Damn, she hadn't listened to anything he had said.

"We were talking about our civil life," he smiled kindly. "Did you leave your other half to come here?"

Oh. Just normal boy talk, then? Good.

"No... did you say you had seventeen girlfriends?"

"This guy is a pervert," Gray said. "Even you should be careful, there are no girls around so he might attack you."

"I'm hurt," Loke said, not looking hurt in the slightest. "There's no way I would do anything potentially harmful to my best buddy."

"I'd kick his ass if he tried," Lucy added.

Everyone laughed at this and started to joke and tease Loke, but someone's intervention killed the mood.

"As if you could," the commander retorted, not even looking away from his meal. "You're small and you look as weak as a child, this guy would break your bones with just a few punches."

He got up and picked his tray with one hand in one swift movement.

"You'll be among the first ones to be thrown out," he affirmed, finally deigning to look at her with cold, disdainful eyes.

The little old man shook his head and sighed and the lieutenant didn't react to his speech, but the man with red head seemed to be having fun. Just before leaving, the pink haired bast... instructor sent her a glare and ended his contemptuous speech.

"Also, you guys are too loud. This is not a summer camp, start behaving like soldiers if you want to valid at least the first semester."

And with that, he left. Indeed, what a charming man. In the heavy silence that followed, a snicker was heard from the seat next to her and she turned her head to see Loke staring at the commander's back.

"Man," he sighed, "I already love the guy."

Curfew was at ten and Lucy and Loke chose to wait for it in their room. They didn't talk about their family, Loke seemed to be as secretive about it as she was, but did talk about their friends, previous jobs, studies and whatnot. But in the end, they never talked about their reasons for coming to the academy nor did they talk about really private matters. Lucy deduced that she wasn't the only one hiding things from their instructors and comrades, but she doubted that Loke's secrets were as unbelievable as hers.

At half past three the following morning, Lucy's alarm rang in the room and woke her and Loke up with a start.

"What the hell are you doing?" Loke groaned, his cheerfulness totally gone. "It's not time to get up yet, turn this shit off."

Lucy did, but still got up. She needed more preparation than her male roommate and didn't want to risk him seeing her getting undressed, for various reasons. She put on a Pressurizing Hemostatic Elasticity Bandage to hide her chest when she got out of the shower and put her khaki uniform on before staring into the mirror. It still felt strange to see her hair being so short when it was always so long... She was ready to go when Loke finally crawled out of bed and dragged his feet toward the bathroom.

"How can you be up and ready this early in the morning," he asked her tiredly, "you alien."

He was dashing when he got out of the bathroom. They were in the refectory a few minutes later and found that none of their friends from the previous day had arrived yet.

"This is what happens when you set the alarm at three," Loke complained.

"Didn't you hear our beloved commander yesterday? We have to start acting like soldiers."

Loke snickered.

"What an obedient child you are, even though he was so mean to you. Do you actually like to be maltreated? That's why you don't have a girlfriend?"

"Shut up, Loke."

They got to their table only to find that the commander was already there. No one else was sitting at his table this time.

"I think we can get a table near the..."

"I want to sit here," Lucy interrupted.

Loke smirked when he saw her walk toward the instructor's table and followed her as she sat right in front of Natsu. Loke sat next to her and kept on smiling as his new crazy friend tried to converse with the cold commander.

"Good day to you," she greeted him.

"Yeah."

Lucy didn't let his very short and very unconcerned answer discourage her.

"You look young to be a commander," she mused out loud, "how come you rose in rank so quickly?"

The commander finally lifted his head to look her in the eyes. He didn't look amused at all.

"What in the world makes you think you can talk to me?"

His voice was icy and the muscles of his jaw contracted. Why did he hate her so much when he didn't even know who she was? Lucy got annoyed.

"Sorry," she smiled, "it's probably because you look so affable."

She realized her mistake as soon as she made it, but it was too late now and she could only stare at him while he was glaring at her. It was strange how his face didn't really look menacing when he was glaring at her. He had a face of marble that didn't give any emotion away. But his eyes were another story. He had fire raging in his eyes and his fierce look was just so intimidating it almost paralyzed you. She didn't dare speak and fortunately didn't have to as Loke saved her.

"Hey, Gray!" he called. "Here!"

Natsu got up and left as the group of recruits came to sit at the table. He sent Lucy a last pointed look and turned to leave the refectory.

"Pfft," Loke laughed, "you have a few screws loose, kid."

Loke then proceeded to tell their friends about her idiotic earlier actions and she thus became known as the daredevil of their little group.

"Didn't know you had that in you," Gray complimented.

"Luc's a man," Elfman seconded.

At seven in the morning, they were dressed in dark blue sweatsuits and were going through a session of muscle warm-up exercises before the start of the class strictly speaking. Their first class was hand to hand combat and their teacher would be their lovable commander.

"Alright," their instructor called, "pushups now: five series of twenty to start easy."

To start easy...

Natsu did pushups with them and even set the pace to encourage the recruits. He wasn't even sweating when they finished even though Lucy was panting and her whole body seemed to be on fire, especially her arms.

"You're slow," the commander deplored. "But at least you can do pushups properly. Get up, we're going to run laps around the academy."

"When does this class end?" Lucy asked Loke, her lungs burning.

"End?" he laughed. "This is still warm-up, kid. The real thing didn't even start yet."

Oh God.

Honestly, she didn't know how she managed to survive those warm-up exercises but she did. She was panting and sweating like a pig, but some of the guys actually had to give up before the start of the class so she figured she still could feel proud. No? Whatever.

"Choose a partner and make a circle around me," Natsu ordered. "We'll start with the real training."

Everyone obeyed quietly but quickly and waited for their instructor to give his instructions. Loke all but forced Lucy to team up with him and dragged her to stand right in front of their teacher.

"As officers," he explained, "you normally won't have to fight barehanded as you will lead squads on the field, but at war nothing happens exactly as expected so there are several situations that might require some skills. You won't have fun in this class, I will push you to your limits, both physically and mentally, you will hate me by the end of the semester and wish you could kill me if you're still here at the end of the year."

"No one would want to kill such a kind person," Lucy whispered to Loke.

Her friend snickered, but abruptly stopped. Her voice had barely been audible even for Loke so it was impossible that the instructor had heard her. But the commander turned his head at this very moment and his eyes immediately found hers. An almost invisible and very malicious side smirk slightly stretched his lips for just a second.

"I see that the little clown is energetic," he noted. "That's just perfect, come here."

Lucy gulped. She thought about declining the invitation, but knew deep down that it was impossible. If only the top 10 students were allowed to join the Elite Squad then she might as well fight against the tyrannical commander and gain some significant experience. And she didn't want him to know that he was intimidating her. She noticed that he was a good head taller than her when she was standing right in front of him.

"Show me your stance," he ordered.

Lucy hesitated, she didn't know what kind of stance she was supposed to take so she imitated the boxers. Her instructor crossed his arms and slowly moved around her to scrutinize her, his face expressionless.

"You have a precarious balance," he finally declared, "you're as unsteady as a newborn fawn. Your fists aren't positioned efficiently and you have no strength in the arms. You've never had to fight before, have you? You're as weak as a girl."

Lucy clenched her jaw. He was saying all that to piss her off and it would be his win if she said anything back. Even though she really did want to insult him...

"Try to throw a punch," he told her.

She frowned. What was she supposed to punch? There were no punching bag or punch shield anywhere. Natsu waited for a few seconds and lifted a brow.

"Well?" he pressed. "Do you need a User Manual?"

Some of the recruits snickered.

"Um," she hesitated, "you want me to punch you?"

"Do you enjoy making me repeat myself over and over again?"

Awesome, he was getting impatient again.

"Fine."

She took a step back and took his previous remarks into account to adjust her stance. Natsu didn't move an inch even when she threw a softened punch to his stomach. The commander suddenly grabbed her wrist and swept her legs in one swift movement.

"Going easy on me?" he mocked. "How kind."

He kneeled in front of her.

"You can't afford to go easy on someone with that amount of strength," he scolded. "I could have killed you just now."

He stood up and told her to do so too, but didn't offer her his hand.

"Punch me once more," he ordered. "This time, I'll hit you back."

Most of the recruits started to mumble furiously between them, hesitant about protesting. Loke frowned and took a step forward.

"Sir, that's too much..."

"Silence."

The commander didn't even bother looking at her friend.

"Shut up and watch. This will be a good lesson for all of you."

He kept his attention focused on his opponent and squared off for the fight. Lucy imitated his stance and he let a slight smirk appear on the corner of his mouth.

"Not as dumb as I thought," he breathed.

Lucy froze. Everything in his appearance looked dangerous, from the position of his body to the look on his face. He was born for this and at this moment, everything in him screamed of wildness and predation. The contraction of his muscles, the barely perceptible smirk on his face, everything about him was mesmerizing. He frowned when he realized something was wrong with her and the faint motion enabled her to come back to her senses. She didn't know what had caused this light trance, but couldn't allow herself to waste any time thinking about it. She threw a punch, this time aiming for his chin. He parried the blow with his left hand and hit her in the stomach with his right, not bothering to hold back his strength, though not using all of it either. She didn't moan or whimper, but took another cautious step back.

"Did it hurt?"

His smirk was gone, his eyes devoid of emotion.

"No."

"Good."

He pounced on her with clenched fists. Lucy had no doubt he would hit her for real this time and she knew that taking his punch would cause her too much damage. She then estimated that, if laying low was necessary for the sake of her mission, it wouldn't be of any help to her if she was too hurt to make any progress. The commander never said she had to fight like a boxer, only that she had to punch him. She grabbed his wrist when he tried to hit her and pulled on it to bring the man to the side. The sudden movement made him lose balance and she kicked his knee before throwing him to the floor and applied a grappling hold.

"Oh yeah."

She let go of his arm and gave him a very light punch, more of a caress, to the chin.

"My win."

Ok, now this is what really happened:

When she grabbed Natsu's wrist and pulled on it, he bent down, turned and seized her pants at the knee before pushing her to the ground. He was on her in the very next second, a knee on her chest and his forearm on her throat.

"Nice try," he breathed. "Still not offensive enough."

He let go of her and even grabbed her hand to help her up. He then turned to the other recruits and cleared his throat.

"This is what I will teach you today," he explained, "dodge and parry. Get yourself a partner, I will show you the movements."

Loke ran to his roommate and put his arm around her shoulders.

"You okay?" he asked concernedly. "He was a bit rough."

Lucy coughed and nodded.

"I'm fine," she assured. "Just a bit irritated, I really thought I could immobilize him with a Judo technique since he wasn't expecting it."

Loke laughed.

"He's from the Elite Squad, buddy. He was expecting it."

The rest of the day passed peacefully and the recruits had their first International Politics class and Strategy & Tactics of War class. The teacher of the first class was the instructor that had been sitting with them the day before, his name was Gildarts Clive. Each class lasted for two hours and Lucy hoped the upcoming ones would be different because their eccentric teacher spent the whole time talking about his wonderful daughter, that none of them were to touch or even approach if they wanted to live another day. The second class was taught by a fat, bald man dressed in pink and a bit too affectionate with the recruits that wanted his students to call him Bob. He certainly was an even more eccentric character than Clive but his lessons were clear and very interesting. As expected, Lucy was doing better when working with her brains than with her muscles, but she knew it was crucial for her to get stronger physically, both for her exams and for the personal mission she had.

Evening came fast and she quickly found herself standing in front of the mirror in the bathroom connected to her room, staring at the hematoma that was spread on the side of her stomach. Someone knocked on the bedroom door and Loke opened. Lucy heard him talk with someone before calling for her.

"Luc, I'm leaving for a while," he said. "The doctor's here to see you."

True to his words, he left right after and Lucy put her shirt on to hide the bandage in case the doctor wasn't Erza before opening the door. The redhead female doctor was alone in the bedroom, glaring at her.

"Hi, Erza," Lucy cheered.

"Sit, you moron."

Lucy quietly sat on the bed as her friend treated the wound on her stomach, occasionally flinching if it hurt.

"He really is a brute," Erza growled, "look at the mark he left... At least, he sent me here to check on you."

"He did?"

Lucy was surprised, she didn't think her instructor was the kind of man to care about mere recruits in training. And how did he know that she was hurt? She hadn't told anybody.

"I'm surprised too," Erza admitted, "but I'm glad he did. This is only the start, Lucy, it will get worse. It's not too late to give up and leave the academy."

"You know it's impossible..."

Erza groaned.

"No, I know you think it's impossible, but I'm sure there is another way. Your father wouldn't want you to take such risks for his sake."

A wry laugh escaped the blonde's lips.

"Erza, wouldn't you do the same for me?" she asked. "Or for Jellal?"

The redhead gritted her teeth. She was furious that her friend was hurt, that she was exposing herself to great dangers and most of all, she was furious at herself because she understood and yes, she would do the same in her place. She sighed.

"A colonel is coming to teach the new recruits starting tomorrow," Erza explained, "she's one of the few female officers of the army that are allowed into the academy and she's my friend. I will tell her about you and ask her to help you."

"I don't think it's..."

"Her name's Mirajane Strauss and I _will_ tell her," Erza insisted, "it's not a question."

When seeing the worried look in her friend's eyes, though, the redhead calmed down and went on with a softened voice.

"Don't worry, she's just as trustworthy as I am," she assured. "I will support you with everything I have but she definitely will be of a great help."

Erza left soon after this meeting and Lucy had to admit that her presence was a great support for her. Even the redhead's friend's arrival wasn't bothering her anymore. Unbeknownst to both women, though, someone had been standing behind the door, in the corridor, and listening to their whole conversation.

* * *

End of chapter 1

The story will be divided into Parts which will each include several chapters. Any constructive review is more than welcome.


	2. Chapter 2: Natural Selection

**PART I - Resolution**

Chapter II – Natural Selection

* * *

" _It is easy enough to be friendly to one's friends. But to befriend the one who regards himself as your enemy is the quintessence of true religion. The other is mere business."  
― Mahatma Gandhi_

* * *

"Redfox, either you shut up or I make you shut up, but if you choose the second option, I doubt that you'll be in any state to leave the academy for the weekend."

The lieutenant colonel Clive was warning Gajeel for the second time and the lesson had only started about twenty minutes earlier. The young man groaned and Lucy smirked. Along with her teammate, Loke, she had been fighting against Gajeel and Gray in a ruthless paper ball throwing battle and the young woman turned out to be a very good shooter. Her last throw reached Gajeel's head and elicited an irritated growl from the young man.

"Damn, Gajeel..." Gray whispered furiously to his comrade, "can't you at least _try_ to dodge? He got you with each shot!"

"Shut up! He's two seats behind me, of course he can hit me!"

The whole class turned toward him at his outburst and stared with amused or jaded eyes while the lieutenant colonel Clive threw his chalk at the boy's head. Lucy and Loke won 32-7. Over the past week, Lucy became really close to her roommate and had to admit that even if he didn't know her secret, his presence was still a great support for her in the academy. The boy himself was pretty secretive when it came to his private life, aside from his multiple experiences with women, and Lucy couldn't help but feel that they were so similar that they surely were meant to meet. He even gave her one of his bedding sets with cute little lions and she felt comfortable enough to sleep with her Plue plush around him.

"I'm definitely paying you back in combat," Gajeel growled at her when they left the class.

The young woman snickered.

"What a sore loser," she mocked. "Fine, I'll kick your ass this afternoon too, then."

As surprising as it may sound, Gajeel didn't look scary at all anymore to Lucy. She knew he was really a big softie with his friends, he'd never hurt her on purpose.

"Can't wait," he smirked.

Loke laughed and slid his arm around her shoulders to lean on her like the lazy ass he was. Lucy didn't bother shrugging him off, it never worked anyway.

"He's so enjoying himself," he smiled, "it's cute. Maybe you should try shooting at him with a real gun since he likes it so much."

Lucy laughed and Loke waited for a second to get her attention back on him.

"Joke aside," he went on, "you should choose this speciality. Recruits that manage to get a speciality are always noticed and rewarded with bonus points. I think snipers get three hundred points each year."

Lucy lifted an eyebrow. Loke knew that she wanted to join the Elite Squad, though he didn't know her real intentions, and often gave her advices and valuable information to help her achieve her goal. And three hundred? That was a lot... Enough to aim for the Elite Squad. She nodded.

"Thanks, Loke," she said. "How do you choose a speciality?"

He smirked and patted her shoulder.

"You have to ask our dear commander," he snickered.

Shit...

Lucy didn't exactly know why, but she couldn't seem to stop herself from constantly annoying her instructor. Over the past week she got him to send her at least a hundred icy glares and was still working to get more. It was just stronger than her. And of course, the commander never missed a chance to make her pay for being a pain in the ass. For example, just the previous day she commented on his bed hair giving him a childish look and he made her do forty pushups in one go... Her arms still ached.

"No problem," she ironized, "I'm sure he'll be glad to help me."

Loke snickered and bent to whisper in her ear.

"If you're a really good boy," he drawled, "I can give you an info that would be of a great help in your current situation."

"If being a good boy means becoming your living sex toy then you can go and hang yourself," she retorted.

The young man guffawed at the harsh reply.

"Don't listen to what Gray says," he laughed, "it's all a lie! No, seriously, listen closely. You know that there are five classes in first year and three classes in second year, right? Well, at the end of the month, the first years' instructors will defy the second years' in a game of Capture the Flag. In short, the second years will have to protect their flags from us, first years. From what I've heard second years almost never lose."

"Almost?"

Loke smirked, pleased to have his friend's attention.

"There were only five first years in the Academy's history that managed to Capture the Flag," he declared. "And guess what? Our commander is one of them!"

"Seriously? That's not even surprising."

Lucy was thrilled. This was a perfect chance! If she could bring victory to her Brigade and her commander, she was sure to be accepted into the snipers' course.

"That's just great," she smiled, "I owe you, Loke."

The young man's hand fell from her shoulders to her lower back.

"Really?" he cheered. "Good. Then sleep with me tonight."

Lucy slapped his hand away and rolled her eyes, already used to her pervert friend's antics.

"No way," she said, "and I already told you I wouldn't."

"But I won't treat you as a toy!" he retorted. "I'll be so loving you'll grow wings."

Lucy sighed.

"What's wrong with you? One week away from girls and you turn to boys?"

Loke smiled brightly.

"I don't turn to boys, I turn to you. And gender doesn't mean a thing when there's love."

"Still no."

"Oh, come on," he whined, "be nice! You're my bestest friend!"

Lucy almost laughed at this, but managed to keep an annoyed look on her face.

"Don't talk like a five year old kid," she scolded, "it's gross."

Loke grinned and slid his arm around her shoulders once again.

"Why?" he asked. "You're realizing you have lolicon tendencies? Don't worry, I love both you and your perverted fantasies."

"Get lost."

During lunch time, Gajeel kept accusing Lucy of being a cheater and assured that he wouldn't have lost if he had been the one sitting behind. A few second years sitting away from the new recruits were talking with a bit more agitation than usual, but no one really paid them any attention as something much more interesting happened. The colonel Strauss entered the refectory and waved at some students before letting her eyes run through the crowd and land on Lucy. A bright smile lit up her face and she practically ran to her. She hugged the younger girl and pushed Loke to sit next to her.

"I thought this morning's lessons would never end," she sighed, "I missed you so much!"

"We saw each other yesterday..." Lucy answered.

"I know," the colonel smiled.

Mirajane Strauss was a complex character to say the least. She joined the teachers the day following Erza's visit and met Lucy in the evening that same day. Erza had called her and explained absolutely everything about herself, her mission and her father. After her conversation with Lucy, Mira had cried, hugged her and swore to protect her with all her power. The following morning, the other recruits met Mira as well. Of course, a lot would try to show off, catcall at her, some even had the balls to openly suggest she let them do her. She took it all with a sweet smile until someone actually had the guts to try and touch her butt. Natsu had been there too, and had grabbed the guy by the collar but Mira interfered. With her eternal sweet smile, she put a gentle hand on the commander's arm and asked him to let her take care of it. Natsu had paled slightly, but obeyed nonetheless. The smug smirk that the recruit had been sporting disappeared the moment Mira turned to look at him. She was terrifying. No one knows what was it exactly that she told him when she whispered in his ear, but the guy spent the day in the infirmary and left the academy in the evening. The following morning, she gathered all the new recruits in the courtyard and told them to form a circle around her.

"I've been here for three days," she said. "Every day, a few of you would find it amusing to insult or belittle me because I don't yell or glare at everyone. It seems to me that you didn't have enough lessons about morals, that or you weren't listening. You think officers don't need to show respect to their underlings? To women? You have such a high esteem of yourselves that you think you're superior to anyone who's not a male officer?"

No one dared to answer. She crossed her arms and stared at the men surrounding her.

"One at a time," she declared. "In front of everyone. All of you who think they stand a chance against me, all of you who think they can disrespect women and get away with it, come at me."

A guy with light blonde hair and a scar on the eyebrow went to stand in front of her and bent his head. He said he was one of the guys that had been fooling around and apologized. He swore he would never do it again and regretted acting like a brat. In the end, no one dared to fight her and she went back to her smiling self, everyone knowing that she could easily kill them all if she wanted to. Elfman still broke a few noses when he found the main troublemakers, to assert his position as the protective brother. Only Sting was left alone since he apologized to his sister directly. With the problem fixed, Mira focused on her lessons and Lucy. Both women became close friends and even though they made sure to protect Lucy's secret their relationship still generated a rumor about them being secret lovers. Which totally was Mira's fault.

"Loke, sleep somewhere else tonight," she told him. "I'll need the room with Luc."

Loke snickered.

"Sure," he trailed, "just make sure to clean up before I come back."

"Don't go imagining stupid things," Lucy groaned, "she's going to help me revise Physics."

"I'm sure she will."

Mira was called by one of their teachers, Bob, and she got up.

"I'll see you tonight then," she smiled at Lucy.

When she was out of the room with their eccentric teacher, Loke smiled.

"So, you and her?"

"No."

"Oh, come on, tell me at lea..."

"No."

"But I want to know!"

"No."

Needless to say lunch time that day was way noisier than usual with her friends harassing her with stupid questions. She was almost relieved when the first lesson of the afternoon came. Almost. They would spend two hours fighting with Natsu and the commander enjoyed using her as his personal punching bag... The warm-up session was as hellish as usual, but with the weather being so freaking hot that day, Natsu allowed the recruits to take their shirts off while he was already half naked, only wearing sport shorts. Luckily, three of her comrades, including Loke, kept their shirts on so it was less strange that she kept her own. Lucy then found herself surrounded by half naked men showing off their nicely defined muscles and appetizing abs. Gajeel, Elfman and Gray were the most impressive guys of the group. The young woman didn't refrain from feasting her eyes on the goods – though discreetly – but had to admit that none of her comrades held a candle to Natsu. The commander's toned muscles moved enticingly with every movement and a thin layer of sweat sparkled under the sun on his tanned skin. His shorts hung loosely on his hips and let the V shaped cut in his lower abdominal region show to the world. He bent to pick up a large black bag filled with colourful ribbons and Lucy had to bite her cheek to restrain herself from smiling at the sight.

"You're drooling," Loke whispered, smiling like the Cheshire Cat.

Lucy instinctively lifted her hand to wipe her chin, but managed to halt the movement.

"What in the world do you want me to be drooling over?" she denied in a furious whisper.

Loke snickered.

"Oh, come on, just because I often behave like an idiot doesn't mean that I actually am one."

"You definitely are," Lucy countered, "and be quiet, I'm trying to focus."

"I can see that," Loke laughed.

She punched his arm as the commander was standing back up with ribbons of three different colours.

"Don't fight," he scolded, "at least not yet."

He observed his recruits for a few seconds before starting to throw ribbons at them. Lucy got a red ribbon, Loke got a blue one, Gajeel received a red one as well, Gray got white, Elfman got blue, Alzack and Jet got red, Warren and Droy got white. When their instructor was done distributing ribbons, he counted them to make sure each team was composed of fifteen recruits wearing red, blue and white ribbons around their left arm. Whereupon he took out three black ribbons and went to stand in front of his students.

"Since it's your first week at the academy and tomorrow is the weekend," he announced, "the instructors decided to let you have some fun to finish the week."

He tied one of the black ribbons around his left arm.

"I've heard a rumor about a game of Capture the Flag," he went on. "The rumor is true, first years will have to steal a flag from one of the second years' teams. But your participation in the game isn't certain. Since the leader of the losing team will get a penalty I have to make sure you guys are good enough to take part."

From behind the group of recruits, two persons walked forward to go stand by the commander's side. Lucy immediately recognized the lieutenant Dreyar and the lieutenant colonel Clive. The pink haired tyrant handed them a black ribbon each and they tied it around their left arm.

"Lieutenant Dreyar and lieutenant colonel Clive both agreed to help me evaluate you. Your objective is simple: steal as many ribbons from enemies as you can. Each ribbon equals a point, the team that gets the most points wins the game. Those of you who show useful skills during the game will integrate the team that will represent me during the Capture of the Flag. Any question?"

Loke lifted his hand and his sweet smile seemed to annoy the commander.

"Yes?"

"I assume you three are wearing ribbons because you will participate, so why are you wearing black ribbons?"

The commander distractedly played with the hanging strips of his ribbon and Lucy couldn't help but find the motion adorable. She internally flinched. Adorable? The tyrannical commander? She'll have to ask Erza to examine her head.

"The three of us will be team leaders," Natsu explained. "If one of you manage to steal and keep a black ribbon by the end of the game, the person automatically qualifies for the Capture of the Flag."

Lucy perked up. Steal a black ribbon and qualify for the Capture? Perfect, this was her chance to earn points with Natsu and get him to accept her nomination for the sniper speciality. Her path to the Elite Squad wasn't as excruciating as she thought it would be.

"No more questions?" Natsu asked. "Ok, team blue with me, team red with lieutenant Dreyar and team white with lieutenant colonel Clive. Follow your captain to your base, end of the game in two hours."

Loke lifted his hand once again, this time not smiling.

"Yes?"

"I want to change teams," Loke declared very seriously.

Natsu stared at him blankly.

"… What?"

"I want to join the red team," he repeated.

Lucy facepalmed. That idiot... For some reason, though, the commander didn't get angry at him.

"Why?" he asked.

Loke smiled brightly.

"I want to be in Luc's team!"

Natsu turned to look at her and she froze. How was she supposed to react? She wasn't responsible for her idiotic friend's behavior.

"Do you want your friend to join your team?" the commander asked her.

If she was surprised that he was asking, she was even more surprised to hear her own answer.

"No," she said, "I want to steal his ribbon. And I want to steal yours, too."

A stunned silence followed her declaration and Lucy completely ignored Loke, Clive and Lieutenant Dreyar's smiles as she was too busy staring at the amused commander in front of her. He wasn't exactly smiling, but his eyes shone with a playfulness Lucy didn't know he had.

"Good luck with that," he answered.

He turned back and went to talk with his colleagues.

"Man," Gray whistled, "you've got balls of iron."

"Doesn't he?" Loke intervened. "I think I'm falling hard."

"Hang in there, buddy," Gray laughed, "tomorrow you'll get to see your girls."

Natsu clapped his hands to impose silence. The recruits stopped talking and listened quietly despite their growing excitation.

"A few rules before we part," he said, "you're allowed to fight but you're disqualified if you hurt others. You're more than welcome to use stratagems or personal skills during the game if it can help you in any way. Finally, there are three huts in the center of the field. They're filled with Training Hunting equipment and you're allowed to use them on anybody since it's impossible to really hurt someone with those. The bullets have been replaced with paint balls and the sticks have been covered with rubber. If you manage to hit someone with a paintball you win a point for your team. That's all."

The academy was surrounded by a thick forest that would be used as the game field and Lucy was burning up when her team finally reached their base. She was very excited by this situation and couldn't wait to run for the huts and get a precision rifle. After that she would search for the blue team's base and hide until she saw Loke and the commander. Her plan was perfect!

"I know what you guys are thinking about," the lieutenant sighed, "and it's a stupid plan. The worst thing you could do right now is run to the huts, they'll be filled with enemies and some of them might be there already and setting traps around them."

Lucy's mood slightly deflated, but the malicious glint in her leader's eyes told her he had a plan and she was curiously as excited to hear it as she was thinking about shooting Natsu.

"I observed you guys during the previous combat sessions and I have a pretty clear idea of who's good at what," the lieutenant went on. "So listen closely..."

oOo

Lucy was lying on the dried earth under thick green bushes with Jet by her side. They were positioned a few meters behind the three huts and observing, waiting for the signal. Their leader was a genius, but the plan he had come up with was risky and Lucy couldn't help but feel thrilled, even knowing that both she and Jet would be the easiest targets of the field in just a moment. She heard fights near the shacks and smirked. Let the morons fight between themselves, team red will be taking the advantage very soon. A flash of light caught her eyes from somewhere in the bushes opposite to where she was hiding with Jet and she glanced at the young man. He had seen it too, and nodded at her. They crawled under the bushes as fast as they could and ran to hide behind fallen tree trunks. They stopped there and checked the surroundings to make sure no one had seen them. This really was exciting! They were so close now that they could see the members of the other teams run around and fight to try and take weapons. They were lying under really thick trunks and Lucy searched for the commander and her idiot friend but couldn't see them anywhere. She started to worry when she realized Elfman and Gray were nowhere to be seen either. _"Each team only sent common foot soldiers to the huts_ , Lucy thought, _don't tell me they're actually following the same plan as us?"_ She frowned and felt Jet tense beside her. The second signal was given and the young man jumped out of his hiding spot and ran to the window of one of the huts. Two enemies tried to shoot him, but he dodged and jumped through the window. A second later, a large cloud of fog engulfed the little shack and Lucy jumped out of her hiding spot as well. The effect of surprise allowed her to run safely for the window and jump through it as well. As expected, their reckless actions stunned their enemies and they took as much weapons as possible before escaping from the same broken window. Before leaving though, Lucy took a moment to search for a precision rifle and did find one as well as smoke grenades and a red simple cloth. Gajeel and Sting appeared when she got out to cover them as they ran to the meeting spot where their comrades were waiting. The strongest members of the team were the ones to get the guns and Lucy was pleased to be allowed to keep her rifle.

"We're moving right away," the lieutenant declared, "you two did very well, but your actions attracted attention, our enemies are probably closing in on us as we speak. Everyone stick to the plan and the next time we meet, we'll be the winners of the game."

Lucy had to admit that their leader really was charismatic, he managed to boost all of his recruits even more than they already were and made them believe in victory. Heck, they felt like they weren't even in a game anymore. Lucy moved quickly with Gajeel following close behind. Those two would be in charge of the really difficult part of the plan, but it was exactly what Lucy had been hoping for: she was the one that would take the black ribbon. From Natsu Dragneel. Earlier in the game, Eve, their scout, was sent in search of the blue base and he found it. Lucy, Gajeel and the rest of the red team was heading there, stealing as many ribbons as possible on the way. They came really close to the blue base and Lucy finally found Loke, patrolling in the area. Unfortunately and despite what she said before the start of the game, her mission didn't allow her to be the one to take his ribbon so she continued to progress toward the enemy base. Where was Natsu?

"Ok, here is good," Gajeel whispered, "hide behind those bushes."

Lucy did, it was part of their plan and the spot was perfect.

"Don't forget to keep calm," Gajeel reminded her, "he will come at you right away, but we won't let him beat you up so keep calm and stay where you are, got it?"

Lucy took a deep breath in and nodded. She knew what she had to do. Gajeel used a pocket mirror to send the signal when Lucy was ready and nodded at her before leaving. He ran down the small slope and crouched down behind broken dry branches and bushes to make it look like he was trying to be discreet. Lucy almost stopped breathing when he disappeared among the trees. The lieutenant had told her that Natsu would lurk around the base to trap enemies, so they knew he was near. And they needed to know where to act. She could hear her own heartbeat, the ruffling of the wind in the leaves, someone padding quietly through the trees... Wait, what? She slowly turned her head, careful of her movements, making sure her breathing couldn't be heard. Crouching near her, looking at the spot where Gajeel had been standing a few moments ago, was the commander. He hadn't seen her. The lieutenant had given orders, but the eventuality that one of them might take Natsu by surprise hadn't been spoken about, because no one thought it was possible. Lucy hesitated, she could shoot to confuse him and take the chance to steal his ribbon. It would be way faster than what they were about to do. She bit the inside of her cheek, she had to be patient and obey orders. She observed him from her hidden spot beneath a heap of large torn branches and layers of vegetation. He looked mighty, just like a lion observing his prey before pouncing on it. His eyes were so focused on Gajeel that he didn't see her at all, all his muscles tense in apprehension. So the lieutenant was right, he really was aiming for one thing only. Then, the lieutenant appeared and everything happened so quickly that Lucy couldn't believe she actually managed to do her part. The second the lieutenant's hair appeared near Gajeel among the trees, Natsu jumped up and ran down the slope with alluring speed toward the men. And when he was right behind them, Lucy used the scope of her rifle to shoot and reached him in the back, leaving a large red paint stain there. The commander immediately dropped to the floor and rolled to the side to hide himself from the sniper as well as the men he had been about to attack. As expected, he located her in one glance and ran toward her. God, if her comrades weren't fast enough, she was in deep sh...

"Ouf!"

She coughed when he jumped on her and roughly pinned her to the ground, pushing the rifle away. He wasn't mad at her, but his eyes shone with a primal desire for predation that stunned her. She suddenly felt very uncomfortable lying underneath him and tried to wiggle her way out of his grip. He snickered.

"Still not aggressive enough," he breathed.

Lucy's stomach contracted and she couldn't understand why. She knew he wouldn't hurt her, it was one of the rules he had given them at the start of the game, but a very loud alarm was ringing inside her head and he was making her uncomfortably nervous and hot. The commander's eyes completely lost this predatory glint when he heard the scream though.

"Nice, Luc!"

Lucy smirked and wrapped her legs around her commander's waist to restrain him. Jet was so fast no one saw him, he ran toward Natsu from behind and tore the commander's black ribbon off his arm. The lieutenant then appeared from behind the bushes and pulled on the enemy captain's shoulder to make him fall off the slope. Gajeel helped her back up and pulled on her arm in the direction Jet had taken.

"We did it!" he screamed in delight. "The game's about to end, we have to keep this ribbon!"

Two minutes later, they found themselves standing dumbfounded in the center of a clearing, surrounded by the members of the white team. The lieutenant colonel Clive took both the commander's and the lieutenant's black ribbons and Team White won the game.

Back in the academy, all the recruits laughed while telling their friends how awesome they had been during the game. A lot of them were covered with paint, but Natsu was the only leader that had been touched, which didn't go unnoticed among the recruits.

"I heard it was the small blondie of Team Red," someone said.

"I heard it too," someone else agreed. "He apparently shot him with a precision rifle."

"I was there," someone assured, "I saw everything, I was the one that distracted the commander to help the sniper shoot."

"I saw it too," another one seconded, "the sniper was standing up, completely uncovered while the commander was running away from him!"

"I heard he was alone against the commander and still snatched his ribbon!"

Lucy sighed. She didn't even know those guys, but they all assured that they were her companions... Not to mention none of what they were saying was true. Among her real friends, a lot of them had done a pretty good job during the game and Loke, Gray, Alzack, Gajeel, Jet and Elfman had managed to keep their ribbons.

"Ok everyone," Natsu called, "your leaders told me that all of you did a pretty good job so I'll be able to form a team to participate in the Capture of the Flag."

All the recruits cheered and applauded loudly.

"Don't celebrate just yet," Natsu interrupted, "not all of you will be part of the team. The names of the chosen ones will be written on the secretary board on Monday morning. You can leave, good job everyone."

Blessings to the guy who created the shower. Lucy sighed as the hot water ran down her skin and enjoyed the feeling of freedom that came with wearing no Pressurizing Hemostatic Elasticity Bandage on her chest. Steam soon filled the bathroom and she sighed, she needed to get out so Loke could wash as well. The hematoma on her side had been replaced with a slightly bluish mark that didn't even hurt anymore and she was satisfied to note the development of some muscles. She cursed the bandage when she had to put it back on and got out soon after, dressed in the white indoor uniform of the recruits.

"Took you long enough," Loke snickered, "next time let me shower with you, it will be faster."

"You wish."

They were ready to go a few minutes later and walked toward the refectory where they found their friends bragging about Lucy's exploits.

"He was hiding with his sniper rifle," Jet explained, "and shot the commander right in the middle of the back. It was impressive. I was hiding behind him and I saw the commander pounce on him. It was part of the plan and all but it was still pretty freaking impressive I tell you."

Loke smirked and grabbed her wrist to lift it above their heads.

"And here comes the hero!" he declaimed.

"Nice job, Hawkeye," Gray laughed, "even though you still lost to our team."

"Luc's a man!" Elfman yelled.

"We should have a showdown," Alzack proposed.

"Hell yeah!" Sting agreed energetically, "a battle of snipers!"

"Shut up, brats," Loke groaned, "you're annoying the love of my life."

Needless to say dinner was even noisier than usual. The young woman spent most of her time searching for her commander and was surprised to find him already staring at her. She held his gaze for a moment, finding no hostility in his eyes. That evening, Lucy got her own fan club as well as her soldier's code name: Hawkeye.

About an hour before curfew, while Loke and Lucy were packing to go back home for the weekend and talking about what they would do during those two days, someone knocked on the door. Loke got up first and went to open. Outside were five or six young men Lucy didn't know. They were wearing indoor uniforms, but the red edging on their left sleeve identified them as second years.

"My name's Bora," the taller one said. "My friends and I would like to invite you to a traditional welcome party tonight."

Loke didn't even ask Lucy for her opinion.

"Thanks," he said, "but we're busy."

He was about to close the door, but the guy stopped it with his foot and gripped the wood.

"That's not very polite," he said, "you'll never integrate yourselves if you refuse this kind of nice invitations."

"I said..."

"Guys," Bora interrupted Loke, "get them."

Both Loke and Lucy fought hard and probably broke a few noses and ribs, but couldn't win against seven opponents – one of them had been waiting at the end of the corridor – and were dragged to an underground cellar. Bora and his friends put dark red robes on and went back to stand in front of them. Loke and Lucy weren't the only ones here, Jet and Droy were present as well as Gray – who looked bored as hell – and some other recruits. The taller guys of the group hadn't been _invited_ so Gajeel and Elfman weren't here.

"Dear first years," Bora declaimed, "we welcome you to this traditional welcome party that kind second years like us hold every year to create strong bonds with you."

His friends snickered at this, but didn't try to talk or interrupt him in any way.

"Tonight, you will prove us that you are brave and loyal comrades that will stop at _nothing_ for a friend."

Lucy gulped. Her instinct screamed at her that something very bad was going to happen soon.

"I'm getting out of here," she said.

She headed for the door, but Bora stepped in front of it and spread his arms, smirking.

"No, no, pretty boy," he snickered. "If you want to leave first, you go first."

He grabbed her neck and dug his fingers in her skin. She groaned and punched his side while both Gray and Loke ran to help her. The fights that ensued with the second years were violent and Lucy started to panic when she realized that her friends were losing and Bora pushed her to the ground.

"Stop thrashing around," he growled, "it will hurt even more if you do."

She tried to resist, but had to admit that this guy was far stronger than her and it pissed her off to no end. She was frustrated! After this afternoon's game she had felt invincible and now she was pinned to the floor, weak as a baby while this bastard was tugging at her pants.

"Damn it!" she yelled. "Let go!"

The door suddenly burst open with incredible force and Bora was flying toward the other side of the room in the next second. A strong hand grabbed her wrist and pulled her up and she found herself staring at the pink haired commander. His jaw was contracted and his eyes had never been so dark. Every second year in the room froze upon seeing him and most first years ran away as soon as the door was open.

"Loke," Natsu called coldly, "drop that."

Lucy turned her eyes to her friend and saw a very large knife in his hand. When had he gotten that? And was he actually going to use it? The young man obeyed and dropped the knife to the floor. Natsu never let go of her arm, but she suspected that he wasn't really conscious of it.

"All of you follow me to the general's office," he ordered. "If one of you tries to run, I'm breaking his legs."

"Now, now," someone sang from the broken door, "what's the ruckus about?"

"None of your concern," the commander immediately spat, "they're my recruits and I'm taking care of it so you can leave."

Lucy noticed that her commander purposely disrespected the newcomer by refusing to turn around and face him, but she was so curious she just had to peek in so she glanced at him over her shoulder. The man was tall and muscular with black hair and a strangely trimmed beard of the same color. His face had very angular features and his eyes were small and dark. He snickered lightly and crossed his arms before leaning on the doorframe.

"What are you so angry about?" he mocked. "It's just a little joke to welcome the newcomers."

Natsu's jaw contracted even more and he did turn his eyes to the man upon hearing this.

"You knew about this?" he growled threateningly.

The other man's smile vanished.

"No need to get so furious," he retorted, "it's common for the second years to slightly bully the younger kids."

"Those bastards were going to rape him!" Natsu violently snapped at him. "What's wrong with you? Do you really have shit for brains?"

Hearing him say _the word_ made Lucy's cheeks burn and her eyes dropped to the floor.

"You're overreacting," the black haired man snickered, "they just wanted to scare him a bit. It's very common, it happens every year."

The commander finally let go of Lucy's wrist and was standing right in front of the other man in the very next second.

"Not under my command," he growled.

A very large hand fell on the older man's shoulder and Lucy sighed in relief upon seeing the lieutenant colonel Clive.

"I don't think you should have this kind of conversation right now," he said calmly. "Ivan, you've got nothing to do with this so I suggest you go back to your room and rest. Natsu, your kids are tired, take them to Gramps."

The older man, Ivan, glared at Clive but said nothing and left, not without sending a malicious smirk toward Lucy beforehand.

The little old man with grey hair that had been sitting with them on the first day turned out to be the headmaster of the academy and was way scarier than he had looked back then. All the second years that were implicated were expelled and Lucy and her friends were allowed to go back to their rooms since they hadn't been hurt – though Loke never got his knife back – but the old general insisted that Lucy had to see the academy's psychologist.

"You can go back home tomorrow," general Makarov said, "but you'll start seeing her starting Monday."

"I wasn't _that_ scared," Lucy protested.

The old man shrugged.

"Procedure," he explained.

The general asked the recruits to leave the office soon after and the lieutenant Dreyar escorted the second years to the academy's detention rooms. Lucy stopped in front of the office's doors and Loke frowned.

"What are you doing?"

Lucy shrugged.

"I want to properly thank the commander before going to sleep," she explained, "but you go ahead."

Loke smirked.

"Yeah, I'll do that," he said, "take your time."

Lucy sighed when he turned and walked down the corridor. Why was he so certain that she had a thing for the commander? She was pretty sure she was putting a pretty convincing act on. Whatever, it was not important. Because it wasn't true at all. No way. She jumped when the doors opened and Natsu stared at her.

"Is there anything you need?" he asked.

He was much gentler than usual and she appreciated that he was so considerate after what had just happened to her. She suddenly got nervous and failed to find the words she wanted to say.

"No... I mean yes," she stuttered, "but if you don't have time... not that it would take long, but... if you have something else to do, I can..."

Natsu slightly smiled and she shut her mouth. " _Don't blush, Lucy,"_ she internally scolded herself, " _he's only amused by your stupid way of talking! And you're a guy now, goddammit!"_

"I wanted to thank you," she said, more sedately, "for helping me out earlier."

 _"Good job, Lucy!"_ she mentally praised herself. The commander's smile softened but didn't really disappear. He patted her head and walked past her.

"No problem, Luc."

The next fifty seven seconds were torture for Lucy because she had to resist the urge to touch her hair where he had patted her until he turned at a corner and disappeared from her sight. She froze when she realized what she was doing. She liked it better when he was mean to her...

* * *

End of Chapter 2

Author's note: Thank you very much to those of you who already posted reviews and favorited/followed the story. Your support is the reason why I'm posting the second chapter today.


	3. Chapter 3: Obsession

**PART I – Resolution**

Chapter III – Obsession

* * *

" _I have little left in myself - I must have you. The world may laugh - may call me absurd, selfish - but it does not signify. My very soul demands you: it will be satisfied, or it will take deadly vengeance on its frame."  
― Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre_

* * *

Lucy snapped when she was pushed for the seventh time.

"Goddammit!" she yelled. "Stop pushing, the list isn't even here yet! You guys are a pain!"

Loke laughed. His small friend was a bit moodier than usual that day and he could understand why. The list that everyone was so desperately waiting for contained the names of the recruits that would form Natsu's team on the game of Capture the Flag and Lucy needed to be part of it if she wanted to ask Natsu to let her join the snipers' course. Furthermore, and as if that damn list wasn't stressful enough, she had to attend a psychotherapy session in just a few minutes because of that incident with the second years.

She had spent the weekend at Erza's, having no home or relatives left, and had to tell her about the hazing. Words wouldn't be enough to describe the state of raw fury the redhead fell into when she heard about this incident. She was satisfied to hear about Natsu's strict – violent, really – reaction, but still wished she could go to the Academy's detention rooms right away and gut the bastards that had dared raise a hand on her dear friend. Overall, Lucy enjoyed her time at Erza's, the girls even received Mira's visit and Lucy was introduced to her younger sister, Lisanna. She was a student at the Academy as well and was staying in the nurses' building, where Lucy and the recruits were forbidden to go.

"Natsu and I actually are friends," Mira's sister had cheered, "I can ask him to be a bit nicer to you if you want me to!"

Lucy had declined and asked the girl to hide the fact that they knew each other. Even if the Strauss sisters were in the confidence it could be dangerous for her cover if Lisanna were to speak with Natsu about her. Rumors travel fast.

"Luc... Luc!"

Lucy snapped out of her thoughts when Loke pushed on her arm.

"The commander's here with the list, man!"

Pushing through the crowd with no delicacy whatsoever, the pink haired commander was walking toward the board with a sheet of paper in his hand.

"Get out of my way," he growled, "or I'm kicking you all out of the team."

He clipped the sheet to the board and left while all the recruits started to push again to get a glance at the list. Immediately after, loud cheers and disappointed whimpers were heard all over the hall. Lucy smiled at the sight of all those big strong men crying and hugging each other. She nodded at Loke when he gestured to the board and took a few steps forward. Her heart was hammering loudly in her chest and time slowed down as her eyes found the names written on the list. She first searched for her friends' names.

 _\- Alzack C._

 _\- Elfman S._

 _\- Gajeel R._

 _\- Gray F._

 _\- Loke S._

 _\- Rogue C._

 _\- Sting E._

She let a breath of relief slide out of her lips and steadied herself for the last name. Her eyes rose to the L section and searched through it. Every second seemed to last a full year as she anxiously searched for her name. Luckily, only her first name would be written on this list so even if she was accepted in the team, none of her comrades would know about her father. She lightly gasped when she reached the end of the L section.

 _\- Luc H._

Here it was. She was officially accepted in Natsu's team. She paused for a long moment and let a bright smile slowly stretch her lips. Loke bent over her shoulder to look at the list and immediately cheered.

"Hell yeah, babe! We did it!"

He took her in his arms and spun her around. She laughed and let him lift her over his shoulders to celebrate as all the other chosen recruits did. She was in heavens, she was delighted and felt so happy, so victorious. Her shining eyes found the commander's behind the crowd. Despite the general agitation and her own excitation, her attention stayed on him, on his slight smile, on the gentle look his eyes had, on the fact that he was definitely looking at her. He nodded at her and turned to leave. She kept staring in his direction.

Lucy was late. The session with the academy's psychologist was at 12 a.m., and she arrived at the office ten minutes later. That's what happens when you take detours and drag your feet around the administrative building. She took a deep breath in when she reached the glass door and knocked.

"Come in," someone answered.

Lucy didn't know who the psychologist was, she didn't even know their name. The academy's headmaster just told her she had to attend a few sessions with them. And that no, she wasn't allowed to skip them. She opened the door of the office and slowly went in, she didn't want to waste time here, she didn't need this session. The office was just as white as every other room of the building and a woman was sitting behind a shiny black desk, looking far too sweet for Lucy.

"Welcome, mister Luc," she smiled, "I am doctor Yesta but since you're so cute, you can call me Dimaria."

Lucy nodded politely but said nothing. There was no denying that this woman was beautiful with her nice curves, her pretty face and her nicely done short hair but she made Lucy feel uncomfortable for some reason. Maybe it was because of this unnaturally sweet smile that she's been wearing since Lucy had entered the room. Why did she look so happy? Was it normal for a psychologist?

"You're a quiet one," she laughed lightly, "it's alright, it's cute. Please, have a seat."

Lucy did so, making sure that no emotion could be read on her face. This doctor Yesta was hitting on her, right? Her question was answered as Dimaria slowly stood up from her seat, making sure to bend over in Lucy's direction enough for her to see her breasts, and went to sit on the desk, crossing her legs to make the skirt run up the flesh. She smirked when Lucy blushed.

"So," she sang, "I heard that you were bullied by second years? How terrible! You must have been really scared!"

"Not really..."

Lucy inched back as much as possible in her chair while the pervert doctor kept on leaning closer to her. Dimaria smiled enticingly, her hand coming up to caress Lucy's cheek.

"Of course you weren't," she agreed, "you're a brave man, I can see it."

 _Damn, this session is turning out to be even worse than I imagined it to be_ , Lucy thought.

"In that case I can go back to class," Lucy cheered while standing up.

The doctor somehow managed to move faster than her and stood between Lucy and the door.

"Oh no," she purred, "we'll be spending a full hour together, alone in this office, mister Luc."

 _Crap_.

Loke was dying of laughter after hearing from Lucy how the session went. He was supposed to be her best friend so she told him about that crazy psychologist in hope that he would support her, but here he was, having the time of his life listening to her worries. Bastard.

"Mister Shishikyū," Clive growled, "if you don't shut up this instant, I'm ripping your head off."

"I'm so sorry, sir," Loke laughed even harder, "you'd laugh too if you knew!"

"Oh yeah? Go ahead, speak."

Lucy kicked Loke under the desk to make him understand she'd beat him to death if he were to speak. He still told Clive, and everyone in the class listened attentively to his tale while she blushed like crazy and hid her face in her arms to try and disappear.

"I get why you were laughing," Clive said, "but you're still in class so keep it down."

"What a lady killer," Gray smirked from his chair. "Couldn't get enough with Strauss, you had to go for your psychologist, too?"

"Who the hell are you calling Strauss?" Clive thundered. "Don't go dropping the honorifics, brat, it's colonel Strauss for you."

Gray gulped and nodded. Clive could be very scary when he wanted to. The rest of the day went smoothly, class with Natsu was funnier than usual since they started special training to prepare for the Capture of the Flag. A few days passed with Lucy attending classes, as usual, and going to her sessions with the pervert psychologist that couldn't seem to keep her hands to herself.

"Your arms are surprisingly soft," she commented while trying to grope her everywhere. "I saw your training sessions with the commander Dragneel, shouldn't you have bigger muscles? Well, it's fine, I like soft skin and thin bodies, it's easier to..."

"Alright," Lucy interrupted her, "I'm leaving, end of the session, see you."

She wasn't even embarrassed anymore, just annoyed. Rumors spread around school like wildfire and Mira and Dimaria were summoned to the headmaster's office. Mira told Lucy that the officers of the academy accused them to be her lovers. She obviously denied it, but Dimaria didn't.

"What's going on between you and this woman?" Mira asked worriedly. "She made it sound like you were really into her..."

"And you believed her?" Lucy scowled.

The colonel sighed and shook her head.

"Of course not," she whispered, "but something's up and I wanted to know if you had any suspicion?"

Lucy thought about it for the rest of the day, but couldn't think of anything in particular. Even though Dimaria was a pervert that could never leave her alone, she never spoke with malice or did anything potentially harmful to her or anybody. She seemed completely inoffensive.

"Hey, Don Juan, care to answer when I talk to you?"

Lucy lifted her head to let her eyes meet the commander's hard gaze. He'd been even edgier these last days and Lucy didn't know why. Though, at this instant she was pretty sure he was mad because she ignored him during class.

"Excuse me?" she asked.

Natsu let the heavy black and orange bag he was holding fall to the ground and walked toward her with fast steps. His face was right in front of hers when he talked with a low, menacing voice.

"I don't care what you do when you're not in my class, but when you are, I expect you to focus and stay attentive, otherwise I'll kick you out of the team without a second thought, got it?"

Lucy gulped and nodded. She felt guilty for being the reason he was mad and stupid because of the reason of her own inattentiveness. She had a mission and failure would cost her her life, she had to succeed and for that, she needed to join the snipers' course and integrate the Elite Squad. She didn't have time to waste with crazy groupies.

"Sorry, sir," she said, making sure to look him in the eyes, serious, "it won't happen again."

Natsu's anger seemed to fade a little bit and he nodded.

"Good."

He took a few steps back and explained the lesson's objective for the second time. Since she paid attention this time, she understood that the commander wanted them to take part in an obstacle course race. The winner of the race would be Natsu's second captain during the game.

"I forgot to tell you," the commander added, "all of you that have been selected for the game automatically won fifty points for the final ranking. If we win the game, a hundred points will be added to the fifty you already have. But the second captain will win two hundred points if the team wins."

Lucy gritted her teeth, of course, there would be competition already. Almost all of the recruits wanted to be accepted into the Elite Squad, they would fight with everything they had to get those two hundred points. And so Lucy would. She was so focused on Natsu's speech that she didn't notice Gray until he was right next to her and tugging on her arm.

"We need to talk," he whispered, looking grave.

She nodded and they took a few steps back to talk without attracting too much attention. Gray looked annoyed, but Lucy didn't think he was mad at her, something else had upset him.

"What is it?" she asked, feeling a bit nervous.

True to himself, the dark haired boy didn't waste any time trying to be subtle about it and went straight to the point.

"Are you and your psychologist in a relationship?"

Lucy blinked and stared dumbly. One could hardly blame her, this really wasn't what she had expected. And just when she had decided to stop thinking about her, too...

"No," she assured, "not at all. Why?"

Her friend sighed and slowly shook his head.

"I only asked to make sure, but I already knew, somehow... Listen, you have to stop seeing her, something's up with this chick and she's gonna bring troubles..."

Lucy frowned, Gray wasn't the first person to warn her about Dimaria but what could she do about it? And, though the girl was a huge pain in the ass, she really didn't seem like the kind of person that could harm others...

"It's not like I have a choice," she retorted, "I'd much rather not go to these sessions... And why do you sound so worried about her? She's just a shrink..."

"Oh yeah?" Gray sarcastically asked. "Do normal therapists ask their patient's friends for the patient's phone number and mail address? Do they want to know if the patient's single or ask them to help setting them up together?"

 _Da hell?_

A heavy silence followed Gray's angry rhetorical questions.

"Are you serious..."

He nodded, his frown still present.

"Dead serious. We need to tell the headmaster, this bitch is crazy and she's obsessed with you."

"I agree, this is serious, we should go tell the general."

Both Lucy and Gray turned their head to see Loke listening to them as if it was normal to spy on your friends. The blonde girl sighed.

"I'll go," she promised, "after this afternoon's classes. I'm not skipping this race just because of her, I want to be the commander's second captain."

Gray smirked when Loke laughed out loud.

"You think you can beat me in this race? You're going to fall hard back down to earth, kid. I'll be the second captain."

"Do you guys actually think you stand a chance against me?" Gray snorted.

"Hey, ladies!" Natsu called. "If you're done talking, your comrades would like to start!"

The race was hellish... They had to run at full speed, jump, crawl, climb, dodge, shoot, swim, but the funniest part was when they had to run blindfolded through a very smoky bunker while having to listen to their partner to avoid tripping or running straight into a wall. Alzack paired up with Sting and got out of the bunker with a black eye. Lucy's partner was Loke and he did a pretty good job at guiding her. Lucy arrived in third position. Loke was second and Gajeel reached the finish line first.

"Congratulations, punk," Natsu smirked when Gajeel arrived, "you're my second captain! If we lose because of you, I'll kill you."

"As if you could," the other man snorted.

Anyone else would have been beaten up for answering Natsu with such familiarity, but, for some reason, Natsu seemed to get along pretty well with the black haired thug-looking guy. The commander smiled this cheeky smile he only had when having fun with Gajeel or Laxus and Lucy couldn't help but feel annoyed by it. Why was he so cool with them when he was such an ass with everyone else, including her.

"Do you feel neglected," someone laughed into her ear, "you want me to give you the affection he's not showing you?"

Loke's arms appeared on her sides and the boy embraced her from behind with his head on her shoulder. Lucy wondered how come he never found out about her being a girl with him being such a tactile person. She slapped his hands off and sighed.

"I don't know what you're talking about," she denied, "I'm not jealous or anything."

Her cheerful roommate laughed lightly and tilted his head to the side.

"Jealous?" he repeated. "I never said that you were..."

Crap...

Lucy started to stutter when she realized she had been tricked.

"And there's no reason for you to say that," she argued, "since I'm not... So, there's nothing to say... Stop smiling like that, you're creepy."

"You're so easy to read..."

"I told you, you're wrong. I'm not jealous, I have no reason to be!"

"Jealous of who?"

Lucy blenched with no discretion and turned to face the commander. He was looking at her as if she was a very funny squirrel playing in the woods surrounding the academy, and she knew that he was satisfied with himself since he managed to scare her.

"Nothing," she immediately assured. "No one, he's just joking. And it has nothing to do with you..."

"Sure," he answered, still looking like he had won some kind of battle against her.

He ruffled her short hair when he walked past her and continued toward the main building. Loke stared at him in shock.

"What in the world was that?" he asked.

Lucy was just as confused as he was. She stared at the commander's retreating back, a hand automatically reaching for her now messy strands of hair.

"I have no idea..."

The blonde recruit was floating on clouds for the rest of the afternoon. Clive threw a chalk at her head during class because she wasn't paying attention and she noticed that Loke was smirking at her distracted self. She went back to her room to have a shower and remembered only then that she had to talk to the general about her therapist. Well, it could wait until tomorrow. She was in a good mood now and didn't want to spoil it for no good reason. The refectory was full and very noisy, even more so than usual. Lucy walked through the agitated recruits to go sit at her usual table, in the left side of the room. Sting, Rogue and Alzack, who usually sat somewhere else, were here too, and her seat next to Loke was taken by Gray so she searched for another seat at the table and found one, in front of the commander.

"Why are there so many recruits in here?" she asked. "We usually eat at a different time than the second years..."

"Oh!" Loke exclaimed. "That's right, you didn't hear since you were having a shower! Guess what? We're gonna have..."

"They will announce the date for the game of Capture the Flag," Natsu interrupted.

Lucy's eyes went from Loke to the commander and she was surprised to see him already looking at her. He usually ignored everything that was not food during meal times...

"Is that so... No wonder everyone's so excited..."

Why was she so nervous all of a sudden? From the corner of her eye, she saw Loke smirking at her and decided that ignoring him would be the smartest decision. So, she just lowered her eyes to her plate and started to eat. Conversations went on for a while at the table, seems like Gray was almost late to dinner since the doctor Yesta summoned him in her office.

"She said she was worried 'cause I look like I have an asocial behavior..."

That's all? She wanted to see him because he wasn't as cheerful as she would like everyone to be? Weird... It was well past seven when Lucy finally noticed that something was amiss. She searched the room for the familiar faces and frowned when she realized they weren't here.

"Where are colonel Strauss and doctor Scarlet?"

Gray snorted.

"Colonel Strauss and doctor Scarlet?" he repeated. "Why don't you call them Mira and Erza, like you usually do?"

Lucy threw him a piece of bread.

"What does that have to do with you? Mind your own business, fifth place."

Everyone laughed while Gray tried to explain that he would have been fourth place if he hadn't tripped right in front of the finish line. The refectory suddenly got deadly quiet when a group of people entered the room and went to stand in front of everyone. They were dressed in the dark uniform of the academy's private police, but no one paid any attention to their uniforms. They all supposed that they were here to give them the official date for the game. Lucy understood that something much more serious was up when she saw the grave faces they had. The tallest one coughed to attract everyone's attention.

"Is Mr Gray Fullbuster in the room?" he asked in a low, menacing voice.

Silence. A few heads turned toward the dark haired boy that was frowning, trying not to look too worried. He stood up.

"Yes," he answered. "That's me. Why?"

The man had thick eyebrows and a powerful-looking jaw hidden under a small scarf. He gestured toward Gray and the four men that were accompanying him moved like a one man army in his direction.

"Mr Fullbuster," the leader said, "you're under arrest for Attempted Rape on the person of Dimaria Yesta. You have the right to remain silent, anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law."

"What!?"

Among the recruits and officers that were in the refectory at that time, most of them started to whisper among themselves or send curious glances in Gray's direction, but no one stood up for him. At Lucy's table, though, everyone was standing up when the police officers reached their table.

"What the hell do you think you're doing," Gajeel growled when the nearest one tried to handcuff Gray.

Eyebrows guy growled at them when he understood what was happening.

"We will arrest everyone that tries to oppose us," he warned. "Sit down and let us do our work."

No one sat down. Natsu took a few steps forward and stopped in front of Eyebrows, unflinching under the giant's hard glare.

"What proof do you have?" he asked. "You better have some damn consistent evidence if you want to ruin my meal."

The giant tried his best not to look impressed, but still gulped nervously.

"Doctor Dimaria ran inside the Academy's police office, crying and begging for help," he explained. "Her clothes had been torn off and she had bruises on her face, arms and stomach. She clearly stated that the recruit named Gray Fullbuster assaulted her in a sexual way."

"That's bullshit!" the concerned person yelled. "Why does everyone believe what that crazy bitch says!?"

"Crazy bitch?" Eyebrows repeated.

Loke facepalmed and Lucy groaned while Natsu rolled his eyes. Was he purposely trying to look even more guilty? Their accused friend understood their point and calmed down, just a bit.

"She said I assaulted her," he repeated, "when would I have done that? I was with my friends all the time!"

Eyebrows stared at him with such a hard stare that it sent chills in Lucy's back. Was this man even human?

"Doctor Dimaria said she summoned you in her office about thirty minutes before dinner," he stated, "she wanted to talk to you about your strange behavior and said you attacked her right away."

"This is crazy..."

He looked defeated and it worried Lucy even more than his anger. He didn't attack Dimaria, she knew him, he would never harm a woman. Why was this happening to him?

"This hardly can be considered a proof," Natsu retorted. "Do you arrest people every time someone tells crazy stories? This isn't how it works here."

Eyebrows glared at the commander, he looked just as pissed as he was.

"From now on," he growled, "this will be how it works. The new Academy's police head takes this matter very seriously since something similar happened in the past."

The giant man sent a cold look at Lucy and she froze. What did all that have to do with her? Natsu saw this.

"And who's the new head?" he asked in a low voice.

From the way he asked, Lucy guessed he already had an idea on the question. And she understood why when Eyebrows answered him.

"Ivan Dreyar. Now, let's go."

Ivan Dreyar... Seriously? Ivan Dreyar? The new head that took Attempted Rape very seriously was the officer that let the second years attack her the previous week? One of the academy's police officers handcuffed Gray and grabbed his arm to force him to walk. Lucy reacted instinctively and grabbed the officer's arm.

"Wait," she insisted, "this is..."

She never got to finish her sentence as the officer sent his knee to her stomach. She coughed and let his arm go as her hand went to soothe her injured stomach. In the very next second, a powerful fist met the officer's jaw with enough strength to dislocate it. The man fell to the floor and cried in pain and confusion. Natsu helped Lucy up and glared at the other officers.

"If one of you tries to lay a finger on my men one more time," he warned, "I won't only dislocate the jaw..."

Eyebrows' face turned very red.

"You..." he growled, "how dare you..."

"That's enough," someone declared.

All heads turned to the man that had just talked. He was escorted by two women that Lucy was glad to see: Mirajane and Erza.

"General," Eyebrows saluted.

"Take the handcuffs off," Makarov ordered. "We don't need to restrain him since he will quietly follow me to my office like a good boy. Right, Gray?"

The boy, though still confused, immediately nodded.

"Good. Do you want to bring a witness with you?"

Gray was about to shake his head but seemed to think better of it.

"Yes," he said, "I want Luc to come."

Lucy froze. He wanted her to come? Why? She didn't have the right to lie and the only thing she could say about Dimaria was that she was a pervert. The general glanced at her.

"Do you agree?"

She didn't even hesitate.

"Yes."

The old man nodded.

"Let's go, then."

"I'm coming, too."

This wasn't a question and Lucy had to admit that she was glad that her commander was so determined to come with them. His presence had a very appeasing effect on her in time of crisis. In the general's office, they found Dimaria sitting in front of the desk, looking miserable. Her eyes were red and wet with tears, her hands around her shirt as if she was scared that someone would pounce on her to tear it off. She was shaking and whimpering like an abused puppy. Such a fucking annoying act. Lucy knew what a woman looked like after a beating, she had seen it. Dimaria was insulting all the women who had to go through such an experience with her poor comedy. Gray refused to sit in the seat next to her and so did Lucy, Natsu and everyone else but Eyebrows.

"Doctor Dimaria," Makarov called, "can you tell us what happened in your office?"

The therapist let out a strangled cry that sounded very forced to Lucy.

"But... but... I already told you... everything that happened..."

Everyone in the office heard the growl but they couldn't tell if it had emitted from Gray or Lucy.

"Tell us, once more," Makarov insisted.

She used her most fragile sounding voice to tell them that she had summoned Gray to tell him that she was worried about him and his strange behavior, that he suddenly got mad at her and said she was just trying to stir him up – Gray didn't even use this expression – and pounced on her.

"He looked like a wild beast," she cried, "I tried to fight him, but he was too strong... I don't know what would have happened to me if my assistant hadn't come back at this moment..."

Gray stared at her with a disgusted scowl.

"Just how fucked up are you?"

"Gray," Makarov scolded, "shut up. Where is your assistant?"

Dimaria shrugged and averted her eyes.

"I don't know... she was very scared. Maybe she ran home?"

"I see... Gray, what can you tell us about this?"

The young man snorted.

"What is there to say? None of this bullshit is true, I wouldn't do her even if she begged me to. She's a crazy liar that keeps harassing my friend. Just ask him."

Makarov looked at Lucy and she gulped.

"Is that true, boy?"

She nodded.

"Yes," she said, "doctor Yesta has been trying to flirt with me since our first session."

Eyebrows snorted and got up to go stand right in front of her, looking disgusted with her.

"How stupid," he groaned. "You just got rejected by her and trying to get your revenge, right? Who do you think you are to..."

Natsu grabbed his wrist when he pointed a finger at Lucy and twisted it to make him fall to his knees.

"What did I say about laying a finger on my men?"

"That's enough," Makarov groaned, "let him go, Commander."

Natsu obeyed and winked at Eyebrows when he stood up. Lucy smiled and Natsu smirked when he noticed. They looked like kids playing a prank on a mean teacher.

"From where I stand," the general went on, "it seems like it's only Gray's word against doctor Dimaria's. There are no witness of the incident and the circumstances are unclear. But Gray's behavior was rude and suspicious..."

"What!?"

Makarov ignored him.

"So, I guess you really look guilty, kid."

Lucy was at a loss for words. What in the world was he saying? This was ridiculous! She glanced at Natsu to try and get him to react, but found him smirking at the old general. Were they all crazy or what?

"But, just to make sure," Makarov grinned, "we will ask our witness. Come in, child."

Dimaria's face when the young woman entered was priceless. The newcomer was a very serious looking girl with blue hair and dressed with the white blouse of the medical unit. She glared at Dimaria when she entered.

"Her name is Juvia Lockser and, for some reason," Makarov went on, "we found her locked inside a cupboard. But she's your assistant and was working when Mr Fullbuster came to see you, right?"

"No," Dimaria stuttered, "um... I'm not sure anymore... it could have been a little earlier... before she started work..."

Juvia snorted, but kept quiet.

"But," the general explained, "this was the only time possible for Gray since he had classes all day long..."

"Um... Then maybe it was someone else... I don't remember clearly since I was so shocked... and it was dark..."

"It was 6 p.m.," Makarov countered, "the sun was only starting its slow descent. But I guess you were shocked, like you said."

"Yes", the therapist approved. "Maybe it was someone else, after all..."

Makarov's smile slowly faded. He had her, he knew it. Lucy shivered when seeing the look in his eyes. He really was impressive.

"Miss Lockser," he called. "Do you confirm that you saw Mr Fullbuster in Miss Yesta's office?"

"Yes," the blue haired girl answered.

And did you hear or see anything that could incriminate Mr Fullbuster?

"Absolutely not."

Gray slumped against the wall and sighed in relief. Lucy smiled and felt someone ruffle her hair again. Her eyes met Natsu's and she found him smiling at her before he turned and left the office. The general declared Gray not guilty and promised Dimaria that the Academy would conduct a very serious investigation to find the _real_ culprit. Lucy finally got the general to cancel her sessions and she walked back to her room feeling so happy that she hummed a tune to herself.

"Luc!" someone called. "Luc! Wait for me!"

Lucy froze. Seriously? No way, right? She slowly turned around to see her ex-therapist running in her direction. Come on, would she ever leave her alone? Should she tell her that she's a girl to discourage her? " _Sure,"_ her inner-self snorted, " _tell your obsessed stalker that you're a girl. Why don't you just go and tell the higher officers that you're the little girl that was_ there _when they arrested Jude Heartfilia?"_ Good point. So she decided to just ignore Dimaria and continued walking.

"What are you doing?" the latter yelled. "How dare you turn your back to me after everything I've done for you!?"

Lucy frowned and finally stopped to look at the therapist that definitely needed to see one.

"I never asked for those sessions," she said, "and I'm glad they're finally over."

Dimaria clicked her tongue and walked closer.

"I'm not talking about the sessions," she groaned, "I'm talking about the rest. I gave my heart to you, I had to bear with those bitches that hang out with you, Strauss and Scarlet, I had to get rid of Fullbuster when he tried to separate us, though it backfired on me..."

 _Whaaaaaaat?_ Lucy stared in silence as the other woman confessed to her just how insane she was.

"Sorry, but you've got it all wrong," Lucy said. "I don't want anything to do with you and I'm going back to the general's office to tell him about what you just said."

Dimaria's beautiful face became pretty scary as shock, fear and fury passed on it.

"No!" she yelled. "I did that for us! You can't betray me!"

Lucy ignored her, she was no psychologist, she didn't know how to deal with people like her. The insane therapist grabbed her arm and tried to pull on it, but Lucy was stronger than her.

"You don't have the right to reject me! I'll destroy you if you try to leave me!"

 _"Don't hit her, Lucy,"_ she mentally told herself, " _she will use it against you_." The blonde recruit managed to shake the other woman off without hurting her and turned to go to the general's office. However, she never got there. For, when she turned, she found herself facing the new Academy's police head, Ivan Dreyar.

"What is it?" he asked with a sly smile. "A lovers' quarrel?"

"I'm busy," Lucy answered, "I don't have time to talk with you."

Ivan laughed, but didn't try anything to physically stop her.

"Ivan!" Dimaria screamed. "You have to stop him!"

Lucy froze. Was Ivan Dimaria's accomplice? What the hell was happening there?

"I see that you're starting to realize that something's strange, right?"

Lucy listened but didn't answer for she was trying to look as unaffected as possible and her voice would definitely have betrayed her. Ivan's smile never faltered.

"I will go straight to the point," he went on, "keep silent about everything you learnt from this idiot bitch and I will make sure you never have to see her ever again."

A heavy silence followed Ivan's words and Lucy stared in shock. She was supposed to lay low for the sake of her mission. The plan was simple: do a good work in the army, get into the Elite Squad and save her father. Why was she involved in such complex affairs?

"What are you saying, you bastard!" Dimaria was furious. "You promised me you'd..."

A muffled sound escaped her lips when the tall man grabbed her mouth with his huge hand and smashed her head on the wall.

"Be quiet, you failure," he growled.

As mad at the therapist as she was, Lucy didn't accept that this man used violence against a woman with no reason.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" she asked. "Let her go, I will tell the general about this!"

Ivan let go of Dimaria and turned very bored eyes to Lucy.

"Sure," he drawled, "go and do that. The moment you do that, I'm calling my partner and he will kill one of your friends."

He smirked and laughed darkly when seeing Lucy's horrified face.

"You wouldn't dare..."

He laughed even harder.

"I wouldn't dare!? When Laxus was three years old, a spy from an enemy country kidnapped him and told me he'd let him go if I let one of his friends out of prison and back to their country. But he'd kill the brat if I were to refuse. Do you know what I did? I told him to go ahead."

Lucy kept silent. She observed him, tried to see if he was lying. Surely, no father could be this cruel, right?

"I wonder who'll be the target," he wondered out loud. "Maybe that red haired doctor you like so much, or the colonel Strauss? There's also my scapegoat, Mr Fullbuster. Maybe it will even be your commander?"

Lucy's instincts kicked in and she pounced on him, grabbed him by the collar and pushed him against the wall. He grabbed her hair with one hand and punched her stomach with the other.

"You don't stand a chance against me," he laughed. "But I like reckless kids like you so I'll forgive you, for this time. Aren't I such a kind man? If you're obedient, I'll get rid of the crazy therapist for you! But if you're not, you know what will happen."

He let her fall to the ground and grabbed Dimaria's arm to drag her along as he turned to leave the place. Lucy groaned in pain and frustration. She was furious! Everything had gone so well when she entered the Academy, she should have known that it was too good to be true! She glared at Ivan's retreating back and gritted her teeth. You obey or I kill your friends, he had said? We'll see who'll get rid of who, it wouldn't be the first time Lucy had to make someone disappear.

* * *

End of chapter 3

I was almost done writing this chapter when I decided that it wasn't good enough, so I deleted it and wrote it again from the start. I think it's much better now.


	4. Chapter 4: The distant past

**PART I – Resolution**

Chapter IV – The distant past

* * *

" _Leaders are not, as we are often led to think, people who go along with huge crowds following them. Leaders are people who go their own way without caring, or even looking to see, whether anyone is following them. "Leadership qualities" are not the qualities that enable people to attract followers, but those that enable them to do without them. They include, at the very least, courage, endurance, patience, humor, flexibility, resourcefulness, stubbornness, a keen sense of reality, and the ability to keep a cool and clear head, even when things are going badly. True leaders, in short, do not make people into followers, but into other leaders."_

 _― John Holt, Teach Your Own: The John Holt Book Of Homeschooling_

* * *

 _It was so cold... The grass was soaked by the heavily pouring rain and the little girl running bare feet could feel the small sharp stones dig into the soft, injured skin. She was crying and could barely breath while running as fast as her small legs allowed her to. Behind her, from the direction of the mansion, she could hear the sound of heavy military boots crushing tree branches and splashing in flasks of water. She could hear the screams too, and the barking of the dogs. She wouldn't survive this hunt, they had seen her. Lucy tripped on a large root obstructing the way and fell face first in the mud. Maybe she should stay down and wait for the water and earth to swallow her whole. This probably would be far less painful than what they did to her father and his household... The terrified little girl crawled out of the muddy water and hid under a large root. She stayed there for hours, feeling the cold bite of the wind all over her fragile body and letting the water pour down on her, drowning her with each drop. A loud crack, a heavy boot fell in front of the root and crushed it. The little girl screamed in pain and fear._

 _"Hey ya," the soldier sang. "I found ya."_

 _His large hand was around her thin arm in the very next second and she screamed, kicked, tried to bite, tried to resist. She managed to tear off the emblem representing an eight-sided figure from the military jacket but couldn't inflict any more damage._

 _"It's not personal," he smiled, "I'm only doing my job."_

 _The little girl roared like a furious cub as she desperately fought back and the soldier laughed. Another loud crack and his arm fell. Blood ran down on his face, his eyes turned blank. His body froze and fell to the ground, lifeless. The little girl watched as he fell and kept staring at him even when his face was buried in the mud. There was no way he could breathe like this..._

 _"Lucy! Lucy, it's me! Come with me!"_

 _The little girl cried when she recognized her savior's voice. Maybe she'd survive this hunt, after all._

She woke up with a start when she felt the pain on her forehead and groaned as the light blinded her. She heard snickers and her eyes adapted to the light. There was a chalk on her desk.

"If that's not asking for too much," Clive grumbled, "would our lady killer pay attention when I'm talking?"

Lucy groaned and sat straight up.

"I'm sorry," she assured, "I'll pay attention."

Clive nodded and stared at her for a few seconds before turning back to the blackboard and pointing at a point on the map.

"This is where the attack was launched," he explained, "and our teams had to go north from there to reach the..."

Lucy yawned and massaged her neck. She had fallen asleep again. It wasn't exactly her fault, she just couldn't seem to get a good night's rest lately. She would always have nightmares about _that night_ , about what they had to do...

"Hey," Loke whispered, "are you okay? You look sick..."

She nodded and smiled lightly. She wasn't sick, she was tired. And there was another very small, little, tiny, minor problem. It was _that_ time of the month. Yup. Of course, she had Erza and Mira to help her if needed, but it still was enough to make her anxious to the point of giving her a stomach ache. The previous night, her lower back started to hurt and she knew it was only the beginning... At the end of the lesson, Clive asked them to stay for a few minutes since he had some files and explanations to give them.

"This is your authorization for this afternoon," he said. "The bus leaves at 1 p.m., and it won't wait for you if you're late. Don't forget to put your ceremonial costume on. You can leave now."

Lucy sighed, she had forgotten. They were going to visit the Octagon, the headquarters of the country's Department of Defense. And Lucy didn't want to go. It was actually one of the worst things that could happen to her. It was fine to integrate the Academy since she was dressed as a man and the real leaders of the Army were in the headquarters. But directly entering the Octagon was like committing suicide for her. She was going to call in sick, there was no way in hell she was going there. It was far too soon to face _them_ again. They would crush her before she even got a real chance to start her plan and get revenge. And, with her dead, they would have no reason to keep _him_ alive. She needed Erza's help. As she was walking along the broad corridors, Lucy noticed that a rather large crowd had gathered near the open windows at the other end of the building. The recruits were laughing, whistling, waving at something outside. Lucy got curious and joined them, she pushed two guys aside to reach the window and peeked outside. She sighed when she understood. The girls were getting out of the lockers and walking toward the center of the sports field, wearing short sport shorts and tight black tank tops. Even the nurses had to undergo physical training, but they usually did it inside the gymnasium. Lucy rolled her eyes and smiled when one of the girls waved back and the guys got crazy. Children, all of them. The girl in question was pretty attractive, though. Her long, wavy, brown hair was tied up in a high ponytail and, from what she could see, despite the distance, Lucy could tell she had a really nice body, with graceful curves and fair skin. Not to mention the tattoo on her hip... She also recognized Lisanna and Dimaria's ex assistant, Juvia, among the other girls. The blue haired woman ignored the recruits, but her eyes got attracted by something at the other end of the corridor and Lucy turned her head to see what it was. There was nothing interesting there, just the janitor cleaning the floor and Gray walking toward them.

"Look at this one," one of the recruits half laughed, half groaned. "I think I'll be visiting the girls' quarters pretty soon..."

From what Lucy could see, he was talking about a rather small girl with short blue hair that looked far too nice and innocent to work among starving soldiers. Lucy frowned when the recruit that had talked about her went on, cracking his fingers.

"I'm the dominative type, you see. I bet she'd be glad to let me get rough with her..."

Lucy couldn't help herself, she snickered and glared at him.

"Dominative?" she repeated. "Rough? How many times do you need your ass to be handed over to you in combat before you finally understand where your place is?"

Everyone laughed, teased and pushed the idiot around at this. The blonde jerk glared at her, but couldn't find the words to talk back so he just pretended that he went easy on them when they were in combat class. Typical.

"Joke aside, though," Loke laughed. When had he even arrived? "You better not lay a finger on the small one. You'd have to face the punk's wrath."

What?

Lucy turned to her roommate and frowned.

"What do you mean?" she asked. "Gajeel's onto her?"

"Funny how you immediately recognized Gajeel even when I only said "punk"," her friend laughed.

"Loke, shut up," she ordered. "No, actually, don't shut up. Explain. Now."

"No, can't do. I've just been ordered to shut up. And we have to go eat, we're leaving soon."

He dodged her hand when she tried to grab his collar and ran away, Lucy running after him, screaming at him to "get back here this instant, you moron !"

* * *

"Food poisoning?" Clive repeated. "Are you kidding me?"

Lucy shook her head. She was so nervous that she was pale and sweating, holding onto her stomach as if she was ready to throw up at any moment. Clive glared at her.

"You do realize that this visit of the Octagon is of the utmost importance," he said. "You will be presented to the higher officers, you will learn very important things about the High Quarters' organisation..."

Lucy nodded weakly.

"I know," she – deceitfully – deplored. "But I really can't. I'd throw up on the generalissimo's shoes..."

Clive coughed and gulped, and Lucy had to bite her cheek to keep herself from laughing at his reaction.

"That..." he admitted, "would be a problem."

Lucy internally cheered. She was allowed to stay in the academy for the rest of the day and, since all her classes had been canceled because of the visit, she'd have a lot of free time!

"Does that mean that this young man will be free this afternoon," a voice cheered from behind her.

Lucy turned and froze.

"That's right..." Clive trailed off. "Why?"

Ivan smiled so sweetly it was obvious he wasn't even trying to be convincing.

"I happen to have a lot of paperwork," he explained, "and I would appreciate it if our Don Juan could give me a hand."

Lucy thought as quickly as possible, but couldn't find any good excuse to get away from him. Maybe she should go to the Octagon after all... Clive didn't look too happy about it either, but, just like Lucy, he couldn't seem to find a good excuse. How worrisome was this? Even his own colleagues didn't trust him... And they didn't even know about what happened with Dimaria, when the three of them were alone in the corridors.

"Sorry, but that won't be possible," someone retorted.

Lucy didn't even need to search for the person to know who it was. She still turned her head to the side to see the commander walking toward them, looking perfectly calm with his hands in his pockets. He was wearing his costume and looked even more impressive in it and all the medals on his chest showed just how brave and powerful he was. Lucy barely listened as he told Ivan that someone else needed her help and that it might take the whole day. Ivan's smile stayed where it was the whole time.

"No problem," he said, "I'll wait for him to be done with this other "work". Maybe I could go talk to the person that needs him and _convince_ them to let me have him for the afternoon. Even an hour or two would be enough."

His smile got sinister and Lucy understood what he was implying when he said he'd convince that person. Natsu smirked.

"Sure, go ahead and try," he snickered. "It's Erza Scarlet."

And, finally, Ivan's smile dropped. Natsu's smirk, on the contrary, widened and he patted the older man's shoulder.

"We're leaving now," he said. "You should try to look for someone else. Luc, Erza's waiting for you in the medical wing."

It was a lie. Erza never asked for her help and she was pretty surprised to see her enter her office. Natsu had lied to protect her from Ivan. She smiled to herself like an idiot and Erza smirked.

"Since when do you get this happy when talking about your commander?"

The blonde immediately wiped her stupid smile off her face and tried to look unaffected by her friend's words.

"I'm just glad I won't have to stick around this creepy old bastard."

The red haired doctor nodded and sat back down at her desk.

"You're right," she agreed. "It's strange how persistent he is when it comes to you. Did anything strange happen with him?"

Lucy wasn't ashamed to admit that she was an experimented liar. She had lied to everyone for almost all her life. She was still lying about almost everything to everyone. And so, she didn't even hesitate. She put her neutral mask on, shrugged and answered with a calm voice.

"No, nothing. Why?"

Erza observed her face and shrugged as well.

"Just making sure."

She looked like she wanted to add something, but she hesitated and her phone rang so she didn't get to say whatever it was she wanted to say.

"Yes?" she answered. "Yes, he's here. Are you there, yet? It's your job as an instructor, stop complaining. I'm working too, you know... Why? No, he didn't come, don't worry. Of course, I'll keep an eye on him. Gosh! Natsu! You're not his mother! I'm hanging up now so get back to work! Yes, yes, I'll call you later."

She sighed as she put her phone back on her desk and smirked when her eyes found Lucy's.

"You're doing it again," she laughed cheekily, "smiling like an idiot."

"I'm not."

The redhead laughed lightly and leaned against the back of her chair.

"On a serious note, though. How are you feeling? You've been here for almost six weeks and your period was late this month. Are you stressed out?"

Lucy had expected that Erza would want to talk to her about those things so she wasn't surprised and had actually thought about what she wanted to say.

"Well, I'm a bit tired, but I guess it's normal with all this training. And I'm a bit stressed out too, but that can't be helped with my situation being what it is..."

Erza didn't say a thing, but nodded to encourage to keep talking. She wasn't really good at communicating with people, but she was good at listening to her friends worries.

"But I'm good," Lucy assured. "I even got accepted in the commander's team for the game of Capture the Flag. And I have friends, and you're here too, I have Mira as well. So... I'm good, it's actually easier than I expected..."

While she was talking, the young woman was trying so hard to force a smile that she didn't notice she couldn't feel her jaw anymore. She didn't even notice that she was forcing her smile. They talked for a few hours and the redhead looked at her in the eye, unflinching, not showing any emotion. She kept silent for a few seconds after Lucy had stopped talking and sighed.

"Lucy," she said, "I'm taking you out this week-end."

More silence. What had she just said?

"Say what?"

"I know you don't like nightclubs and such," Erza went on, "so we'll go somewhere else. We'll think about it when the time comes. But I'm having you dress like a girl, put some makeup on, flirt with boys and have fun."

"I don't flirt with boys to have fun..."

Erza waved her off.

"Yes, yes," she said. "The point is: you need to live normally sometimes. I know your life has been anything but normal until then and I know you're not used to this. But, as your friend, I have to make sure that you won't implode from all the stress and pressure you've been feeling."

Lucy understood her friend's point of view. She probably would have said the same things had she been in her shoes. But there was still something troubling her.

"Erza," she sighed. "Look at me. I have square shoulders, defined muscles, short hair, scars on my hands and bruises from my combat training with the commander..."

The redhead didn't give up.

"So what?" she countered. "A little makeup and we won't see the scars and the bruises anymore, your muscles are defined, not huge, and I'll do your hair so nicely it won't change a thing that they're short. Or you can wear a wig if you want. I have a blue wig at home."

A blue wig...

The blonde recruit sighed.

"I won't feel at ease," she insisted, "you know me."

"Absolutely," the doctor agreed. "I know you. I know you'll be stunning when I'm done with you, just you wait."

The phone rang again and Erza sighed as she looked at the name on the screen

"Yes?" she said. "No, Ivan didn't come at all. How was the visit? Don't say that about our higher officers... I know they are but you'll get another blame if you call them old bastards again... Oh? You guys are on the way back already? I see, well, it makes sense. Sure, sure. I told you, nothing happened, she was with me all afternoon long..."

Erza froze and stared at Lucy. The young woman, wide-eyed, had her mouth half opened in a silent, horrified scream.

"Wh... what?" Erza stuttered. "What do you mean? You're just hearing things, of course I didn't say "she"... Laxus hit your head too hard again... Yeah, see you."

She hanged up and kept her eyes on her desk, not daring to look at Lucy.

"You..." the blonde trailed off. "Do you want me to leave the Academy so much that you won't mind if I leave it dead?"

"I'm sorry..."

Lucy left Erza's office since it was already late and her instructors and comrades would be back soon. She decided to go wait for Loke in their room and walked across the field to get there faster. Something made a cracking sound somewhere on the side of the field, but she couldn't see what it was and didn't care enough to look for it. She got out of the field and turned behind the gymnasium. She was walking toward the dorms when she heard the sound of someone clearing their throat. Ivan was right behind her. How long had he been there?

"I see that you're finally free," he smiled.

She gritted her teeth, but refused to show any emotion.

"Not really," she countered, "my commander is coming back in just a few minutes. I'm going to get changed and I'll go wait for my comrades."

The old man laughed lightly and rolled his eyes. He took three or four steps forward and Lucy didn't move even when he came to stand an mere inch away from her.

"You've been awfully busy lately," he noted. "And I noticed that your relationship with your commander is getting better, too."

Lucy looked at him in the eye.

"It is," she answered. "Are you done? Then, I'll take my leave, now."

Ivan snickered, but let her get away nonetheless.

"Of course," he drawled. "I'll see you again, very soon. And when I see you, I'll tell you a thing or two about this commander you admire so much."

Lucy didn't even turn back to answer. She didn't slow down either as she walked away.

"I don't need to learn anything about him from you."

The older man stared at her back as she got farther and farther away from him.

"As you wish," Ivan growled, "mister distant relative."

* * *

Lucy was in front of the gates when the bus arrived and she saw her friends waving at her through the windows so she smiled and waved back. They looked so happy to be back, the visit must have been boring as hell. The commander disappeared as soon as he got out of the bus and didn't come to the refectory for dinner either. Lucy listened to her friends as they told her about the things they had seen and learnt, and Lucy had to admit that she would have liked to go with them because, even though it was full of "old annoying geezers", as Gajeel said, everything they told her kind of spiked her interest. It would have been a very enriching experience.

"The commander got scolded by a colonel there," Loke laughed, "cause he was always on his phone. Gray heard him talk to Gramps about a special night event and I heard him talk to the doctor..."

Lucy averted her eyes and focused on her fish.

"He sounded worried," Loke smirked while staring at her. "You were with the doctor this afternoon, right? Do you happen to know what it was that worried him so much?"

She shrugged and did her best not to look interested or affected by the topic.

"Beats me," she said.

They went to bed early and, just as Loke never said anything really important to her, Lucy never told him about her meeting with Ivan. She fell asleep pretty quickly and had a good night's rest. Or not. At half past two in the morning, the door of their room was kicked open and four men pounced on them to tie them up with ropes and blindfolded them. In their state of deep sleep, they couldn't resist with enough strength and were forcibly dragged outside the room by their attackers. Lucy mentally took notes as they were walking. She could hear the other recruits fight back. They climbed down the stairs, took a few turns, walked toward the forest and entered it. They walked for a few more minutes and were forced down on their knees. Finally, their blindfolds were taken off. Kneeling beside her were Loke, Gray, Gajeel and a few other recruits of her brigade.

"This was way too easy..."

Funny how this voice had this strange power on Lucy's emotions. Like at this moment, it instantly reassured and pissed her off to no end.

"You guys think you can allow yourselves to take all the time in the world to wake up? If this had been a real attack, you'd be hanging by your neck by now."

The commander finally appeared from behind large trees that were cloaked in darkness and went to stand before them, under the moonlight. And Lucy froze. Her mind went blank as she stared at his combat uniform, the heavy black boots, the emblem on the sleeve, the camouflage face paint. This felt awfully familiar, in a so very bad way. He caught her eyes and stared at her, his eyes emotionless, before coming to crouch in front of her.

"Are you still in shock?" he asked. "If so, you can go back to your room. I need soldiers here, not scared little girls."

Lucy gulped and kept staring at him in the eyes. Her brain was overheating, she was feeling too many emotions and her body wasn't responding to the signals. She gritted her teeth. Why did she want to run away from him? She was scared of him... And she loathed him all the same. Natsu stood back up and looked at the other recruits.

"The men that attacked you and brought you here are my men," he explained. "They will help me train you tonight. I know this is our first intensive night training, but you better wake up quickly if you want to stay in the team."

"Yes!" the recruits all answered.

Now that he was standing back up, Lucy wasn't that affected by Natsu's appearance anymore. In fact, she couldn't really understand why she had reacted that way to begin with. It was probably because of the memories of _that night_ , but it was stupid to be wary of the commander, there was no way he could have been there... He wasn't old enough to be a soldier at the time. The commander's men untied them and they stood up, quietly waiting for the instructions.

"There will be two teams," Natsu explained, "the soldiers' team and yours. Each team will nominate a captain and a joker. The objective is to capture the enemies and bring them to the base's jail."

Loke smiled and cheered.

"Sounds funny!"

"You're allowed to knock them out if they resist," the commander retorted.

"Oh..."

"At the end of the game, the team that has the most prisoners wins. If you capture the enemy captain and put him in your base's jail, your team wins right away. An arbitrator will stay at each team's base. The joker can take a prisoner's place if the prisoner hasn't been put in jail yet. If you capture the enemy joker, they're forced to change teams. The joker is also the only player that can set the other players free, even if they're inside the enemy base, as long as he manages to touch them. Any question?"

Gray lifted a hand, which surprised his comrades since he usually wasn't the type to get that interested in a game.

"Can the captain and the joker be the same person?"

The commander shook his head.

"No. Anything else?"

This time, it was Lucy's turn to ask a question.

"Do we get to use weapons?"

"We won't give you any," he replied, "but if you find something that could serve as a weapon, you're free to use it."

Lucy frowned and so did most of her comrades.

"Does that mean you hid things that could serve as weapons in the forest?" Gajeel asked.

Natsu shrugged and turned to go fetch something in a large sport bag. He came back with a small box in his left hand.

"I don't know," he obviously lied, "you'll have to see for yourselves. Now, come here. I'm going to apply this on your face. It's just black paint, don't look at me like that."

* * *

Lucy fell down and rolled on the muddy ground to hide behind a huge tree root. She heard Alzack curse and fight back before the soldier that had caught him knocked him down. Damn... this was not going well... Natsu's soldiers ran in her direction and continued without stopping thanks to the root hiding her. This too felt awfully familiar... She knew that the enemy base was only a few meters ahead, she had seen it. But Gajeel was nowhere to be found, the same could be said of Loke and Gray. Natsu had successfully separated them all and rendered their little strategy useless. She got on her knees and looked around her to make sure there was no enemy and got up to go back to her base, but a large hand fell on her shoulder and pushed her to the ground before a second hand came to cover her mouth. It was Gajeel and he looked exhausted.

"Where is Alzack?" he whispered.

Lucy shook her head and he sighed.

"Elfman? Loke? Gray?"

"I don't know..."

Another deep sigh.

"That pink-haired bastard saw right through our plan and crushed it before we could even properly get started..."

Lucy hesitated. She was aware that they were loosing this game in a very pathetic manner, and so was Gajeel. Should she tell him what she thought? He probably knew it too, but what if he was trying to cast the thought aside? Did she have to be the one to face the harsh reality again?

"The guys are probably prisoners," she whispered, "we needed them..."

Gajeel kept silent for a few seconds, checking their surroundings, trying to think. He finally looked at her and lifted an eyebrow.

"I know that," he retorted in a very matter-of-factly way, "that's why I'm trying to think of another plan. Don't worry, I'll figure something out."

Lucy stared at his contracted jaw, his dark, focused eyes, his tense muscles. No doubt, Gajeel was a born soldier and a natural leader. They made the right decision when they decided to make him the captain. Wait... the captain? Of course! Both their captain and joker were still free!

"Gajeel!" she furiously whispered. "I have an idea!"

Lucy almost burst into laughter when Gajeel glared at her. He didn't like her plan. But it was worth a shot, really! She was certain even Natsu wasn't expecting such a stupid move from them! The black haired scapegoat helped Lucy with the preparations. They had found a lot of weird things in the forest, including very thin pieces of paper that would tear very easily, a whistle, safety glasses, and more common things like little rocks, a lot of earth dust, wooden sticks and so on.

"We need to find someone for the whistle," Lucy said, "anyone."

"I think Sting is still protecting the base," her comrade replied.

"Perfect. We're ready to go."

"Speak for yourself..."

* * *

The young woman couldn't keep herself from smiling as her captain ran for the enemy base, yelling like a mad man and punching every enemy soldier coming his way. Of course, he got caught and dragged toward the jail... It was Lucy's turn to have fun. She ran out of her hiding spot and toward the crowd that had formed around Gajeel. Natsu was back as well, which wasn't part of their suicide plan, but didn't change anything either.

"I'm trading places with him," she declared. "He's not in jail yet and I'm the joker so I can take his place."

Natsu frowned.

"Are you an idiot?" he asked. "Even if you do take his place, some other soldiers will capture him right away. You're finished."

Lucy smiled and shrugged while coming to stand beside her captain and patting the latter on the shoulder _en passant_.

"So what?" she countered. "I still have the right to take his place."

Natsu sighed and shook his head.

"Right... guys, let the captain go and give him ten seconds."

Natsu's soldiers did as they were told and Gajeel smirked before crossing his arms on his chest and leaning on Lucy's shoulder. The commander was very obviously confused, but refused to be destabilized.

"One," he started.

Gajeel laughed and leaned in to talk in Lucy's ear.

"Two."

"You know," he whispered. "I don't really mind if your plan fails anymore. His face just now was worth it."

Lucy's smirk widened.

"Three."

Behind them, their comrades were yelling at them to get moving. They still had a chance, they didn't have the right to give up. Only Loke and Gray, who really were prisoners, kept silent and observed the scene.

"Four."

She yawned.

"Five. Six."

Gajeel stopped leaning on Lucy and even stretched his back and arms. He really was having fun.

"Seven. Eight."

Natsu's men started to approach them, waiting for the right time to catch Gajeel again.

"Nine."

Lucy's eyes slid to the side and she caught a glimpse of golden hair hiding among the trees.

"Ten."

Sting blew with so much strength the whistle almost deafened them all. In the single second of confusion that ensued, Gajeel took the little paper bags from under her jacket and threw them in the air while Lucy's hands were suddenly full of little sharp rocks that came to meet the thin paper of the bags and tore it apart. As if God himself was having fun watching the scene, a strong wind suddenly arose and dispersed the earth dust that was inside the bags, blinding everyone but Lucy and Gajeel, who had put their safety glasses on. Lucy managed to touch each and every one of her captured comrades and they ran out of the enemy base. Violent fights ensued and Lucy's team lost, but not because of the number of prisoners. They had lost as free men while fighting.

"I'm not satisfied at all," Natsu declared at the end of the game. "You were weak, undisciplined, unorganized, just like kids playing around. You only had one plan and I crushed it as soon as the game started. Almost all of you got captured in the first hour and the captain allowed the joker to take the most important decision. Your final plan was crazy and had no chance of working if this had been war. We still have a long way to go... Okay, get lost. Go to sleep. Let's hope you'll do a better job next time. I'll just go harder on you in class."

Lucy's stomach hurt. A lot. It was far worse than she had expected and she didn't have any pain killers that would work for this kind of pain since Erza was keeping them for her. And it was way too late to go ask for them now. So she lied down on her bed and curled up under the covers, desperately trying to fall asleep.

oOo

 _"It's not personal," he smiled, "I'm only doing my job."_

 _The little girl roared like a furious cub as she desperately fought back and the soldier laughed. Another loud crack and his arm fell. Blood ran down on his face, his eyes turned blank. His body froze and fell to the ground, lifeless. The little girl watched as he fell and kept staring at him even when his face was buried in the mud. There was no way he could breathe like this..._

 _"Lucy! Lucy, it's me! Come with me!"_

 _The little girl cried when she recognized her savior's voice. Maybe she'd survive this hunt, after all._

 _"Michelle!"_

oOo

Lucy woke up with a start, panting and sweating and probably crying. The light got turned on and her eyes found Loke's. He looked terrified. Her eyes fell down to the mattress and she understood why her friend looked like he'd just seen a ghost. There was a pool of blood on her sheets...

* * *

End of chapter 4

I created a Tumblr account. I don't know how to use it...

I hope you enjoyed reading this chapter, I'm pretty satisfied with it myself as we're finally starting to get serious with the plot.

Someone asked me about Lucy's period catching up to her. I think your question's been answered.


	5. Chapter 5: Hunger

**PART I – Resolution**

Chapter V – Hunger

* * *

" _I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain."  
― Frank Herbert, Dune_

* * *

"Oh shit," Loke breathed, "what the fuck is that!?"

Lucy gritted her teeth and tried to organize the chaotic thoughts swirling inside her head. She was screwed. She was so, so screwed. She knew perfectly well what all the blood was, she just hadn't expected it at the moment and she was surprised by the amount of it. And Loke was awake too, he saw it...

"You..." Loke growled, "when the hell did you get such a wound!? And how!?"

Lucy blinked. A wound? What in the world was he talking abo... Oh. God. She would have sighed in relief if she was sure that he wouldn't understand the reason of such a weird reaction. He thought she had an open wound! She was so lucky he was an idiot!

"It's not that serious," she assured. "Stop panicking."

"Not serious!?" Loke frantically countered. "Are you trying to be funny, here?"

He jumped out of bed, but his legs got tangled in the sheets and he fell face first on the carpeted floor. He jumped back up and cursed as he tried to free his legs of the evil bed sheets and reach the door of the bedroom, but Lucy grabbed a pillow and threw it at his head before he managed to do so.

"You're too loud," she scolded.

"Stop playing tough," the redhead answered back, "you're bleeding to death!"

Lucy sighed and shook her head. She was lucky that he was an idiot, but it made things a lot more complicated as well. And she wasn't even bleeding that much, he was exaggerating...

"Shut up," she ordered. "Go fetch Erza, tell her the problem we talked about happened..."

"What do you mean the prob..."

"Don't tell anybody else about what's going on," she interrupted him. "I'm serious, Loke, if we really are friends, please trust me and don't disobey me."

Loke stared at her with very confused eyes, squinting at her and trying to speak, but not finding the words. He nodded energetically at each word she said though.

"Go fetch Erza," he repeated. "Tell her about the problem. Don't talk to anybody else. I get it. I'll be back in no time. Wait here."

Thereupon he ran out of the room and slammed the door behind his back. Lucy sighed. Where did he want her to go? The window of the bedroom was open and the fresh air of the night smoothed her. Being a girl, her instincts kicked in as soon as she was alone and she reached out to grab a pack of paper handkerchiefs on the nightstand, placed three of them between her legs and walked to the bathroom to clean up. Erza would know where to find her.

The – very – annoyed redhead entered the room a few minutes later and slammed the door shut. Lucy was still waiting in the bathroom at that moment since she couldn't keep the girls' things she needed in her bedroom.

"Loke's waiting in my room," Erza told Lucy through the closed door of the bathroom. "I really hope nobody will see him in there..."

She turned to the blonde's bed and frowned.

"It seems like he didn't figure out what the blood was," she went on, "I'm surprised. Can you open the door? I brought the things you need."

No answer. No sound coming from the other side of the door. Erza frowned and knocked.

"Lucy? Are you alright?"

"Well," the blonde finally started. "I'm just worried that you'll try to kill me if I open the door."

Erza snickered and Lucy could feel her menacing aura through the door.

"Try to kill you?" she repeated. "I won't _try_ to kill you, I _will_ kill you, you moron."

The door still opened, but Erza didn't kill her. She gave her tampons and pain killers, making sure that nothing else had happened before helping take the bed sheets off and throwing them in a plastic bag. The Academy's doctor had no problem turning the mattress over either.

"You can't go out now," Erza stated, "I'll take care of the bag. Can you put the new sheets on by yourself or do you need me to help?"

"I'll be fine," Lucy assured. "Thank you for your help."

Erza stared at her for a bit and Lucy was about to ask her if something was wrong when the doctor opened her mouth to speak again.

"Are you sure that everything's alright, Lucy?"

Lucy blinked at her friend and stared stupidly, not answering for a long moment. Why was she hesitating? She should say yes. She was used to lying, and this lie in particular was very easy to tell.

"N...no," her voice shook as a knot formed in her throat. "Not really..."

A stray tear ran down her cheek. What was she saying?

"I wish I didn't have to do all this," she went on, her voice weak. "We should have run away when we had the opportunity to do so."

Lucy noticed the dark spots that kept appearing on her pajama pants and assumed that the first stray tear had been followed by others, but she couldn't be sure since she wasn't feeling anything. She wasn't crying desperately because of grief, she wasn't hurt either, she wasn't sobbing uncontrollably. But, for the first time since that dreadful night, she didn't have enough strength to put on a brave front. She was tired and, probably because of her period, she felt too weak to fight. She wasn't sure if she could oppose the whole army anymore. And she realized that, even if it was the case, she didn't have the right to give up and run away. Because it would mean the death of her father. But tonight, she couldn't bear the pressure anymore. And Erza was here, giving her the opportunity to share a bit of this pressure with her.

"I don't even know if he's really still alive," she sniffed. "nd there's this problem with Ivan..."

Erza had kept silent until then, but she had been suspecting that Ivan had done something to her friend for quite some time now, so she couldn't help herself when she heard Lucy talk about it.

"What do you mean? What's the problem with him? Did he do anything to you?"

Lucy mentally slapped herself. She couldn't believe she had said that, tired or not. Well, it was impossible to pretend that nothing happened anymore and Erza wouldn't allow her to keep quiet about the matter so she didn't have much of a choice. She told her absolutely everything. About what happened with Ivan and Dimaria, about his threat to kill one of her friends, about his accomplice, and about their conversation, a few hours earlier.

"I think he's starting to doubt me," she concluded. "But the real problem here is that he's a dangerous psychopath."

Her voice was as neutral as possible and anyone would have been convinced that the blonde wasn't really feeling upset, but Erza knew better. She clicked her tongue and Lucy heard the sound of her knuckles cracking.

"I'll just explain him that he's not the only dangerous psychopath in the place...," she growled.

Lucy smiled as a murderous aura surrounded her friend and she laughed.

"I'm really glad to have you here," she confessed. "I don't think I could do it without you."

Erza completely calmed down upon hearing this. She stared at the young blonde who braced herself, knowing very well what was going to happen. And as expected, the red haired doctor pulled her in a tight embrace that almost choked her, telling her that she was the most adorable person in the world. Feeling too happy and relieved to keep their guard up, the two women didn't notice that someone was approaching their room until the door was abruptly opened.

"What in the world are you two doing..."

The growl had emitted from a tall woman who was standing in the doorway, holding Loke by the collar of his white pajama shirt.

"She caught me," the latter laughed.

The woman finally let him go and entered the room before closing it behind them. Lucy recognized the blue hair of Dimaria's ex-assistant, Juvia.

"I found this guy in your room," she told Erza, "and when I asked him, he said that you were with a patient who was bleeding to death..."

Erza opened her mouth to answer but didn't have enough time to do so as the door opened once more to reveal a very agitated Mirajane.

"I heard you were dying!?" she cried loudly.

"Pfff."

Lucy ignored Loke's intervention and retorted.

"Guys, I'm alright," she assured, "it was nothing..."

"Don't change the subject," Juvia interfered. "What is happening here is very clear. This man isn't hurt at all and you made this story up so doctor Scarlet could spend the night with him... This is a serious infraction!"

Lucy sighed. She didn't know if she had to take this woman seriously since she had never even talked to her before, but the determination in her eyes was kind of scary. How was she going to explain this? She obviously couldn't tell her that Erza had come to help her with _that_ , but that weird girl had some crazy imagination... Something suddenly rose beside the blonde recruit and Juvia was quickly facing a very pissed-looking redhead doctor.

"When did you start working here?" Erza almost growled.

Juvia took a step back, but Erza followed her until the younger woman had her back against the wall. Lucy frowned, she wasn't going to hurt her, right? The blue haired nurse gulped, but still kept her head high and answered with a clear voice, not averting her eyes.

"Not long ago," she admitted. "I'm a first year."

Same as Lucy, then. Erza laid a hand against the wall, beside the nurse-in-training's head.

"I've been working here for six years," she said, "and I obtained my degree a few years before that. You're accusing me, your superior, of having an affair with a recruit and I say I was healing him. But you, what were you doing in the corridors of this building at such a late hour?"

Lucy was fascinated. Erza had completely reversed their positions in one sentence and the poor blue haired girl was now blushing very hard and stuttering something about getting lost trying to find the toilets... This could have become very funny had they been alone in the room, but the sound of someone clearing their throats brought the girls back to reality as Loke waved at them, still wearing that playful grin.

"I'm still here," he laughed lightly, "and I still don't understand how this guy is still alive after losing that much blood."

Lucy stared at him sadly. He looked lost, she could see it in his eyes even if he was acting like an amused child. And she still couldn't tell him the truth, she would lie again.

"He had bleeding hemorrhoids."

Lucy froze and slowly, very slowly, turned her head toward the red haired doctor. She hadn't really said that, had she? A very deep and very embarrassed silence followed her declaration and Lucy deduced that she had indeed said that.

"Oh..." Loke hesitated. "Uh... sorry?"

Lucy turned her head back to him and something inside her snapped when she saw him blush and avert his eyes. She burst out laughing. Loudly. She laughed so hard her stomach contracted and hurt, tears even rolling down her cheeks. It wasn't even funny, hemorrhoids really did hurt from what she had heard. But it was the way Erza said it, the moment she chose to say it, Loke's face... And probably too much accumulated pressure. The young girl half expected the others to join her and laugh to their heart's content, but they weren't in a manga or a novel, nobody laughed. They stared at her as if she had lost her mind and tried to get her to shut up when they remembered that each and every one of them had violated at least one of the Academy's rules that night.

"I think we should all forget about what happened here tonight," Erza concluded when Lucy had finally calmed down. "We have to go back to our respective rooms."

Juvia all too eagerly agreed with her and excused herself with a quick nod before walking out of the room. Loke walked to the bathroom to relieve himself and Erza kissed her forehead before walking out of the room as well.

Contrary to Juvia, Erza didn't run out of the room. She peeked outside to check the corridor and only got out when she was sure that no one was around. She walked slowly, muffling the sound of her steps, listening to every noise. Her thoughts went back to Lucy when she was sure that she was alone. The young girl was bearing way too much pressure on her own. " _We should have run away when we had the opportunity to do so_ ," she had said. She was too young to fight this war, too nice, too... _damaged_. Erza sighed, she knew where this was taking her. She had hoped that she could save Lucy by convincing her to give up. But, as expected, things wouldn't be so easy. And if Lucy was going down, then so was she.

"Having trouble sleeping?"

If it had been anyone but Erza, they would have screamed and jumped away for, when she turned at a corner to get back to her room, she found herself walking right in front of Natsu Dragneel, the commander in charge of Lucy's group of recruits. He was casually leaning against the wall, arms crossed, hair flattened against his forehead. Erza didn't even bat an eyelid when she heard him.

"Not really," she answered, her voice devoid of any emotion.

"I see," he hummed. "Well then, good night."

Thereupon he nodded at her and quietly walked back to his room, hands in his pockets. Erza tried hard not to look back and keep walking her way, but she just couldn't resist. She turned around and glanced at him over her shoulder. He didn't look upset or suspicious, which definitely meant that something was up. She clenched her fists. How long had he been standing in the corridor? Had he heard them? He must have heard them. No, the door to Lucy's room was too far from his spot, maybe he didn't hear anything at all. Even though Lucy had actually burst out laughing a few minutes earlier... Why was he acting natural? He didn't even ask any question... And then, Erza realized that she, too, even though she had tried very hard to act natural, had forgotten to ask him what he was doing out of his room at such an hour. She gritted her teeth, Natsu knew her far too well, he knew that she was too authoritarian to let someone, might they be a commander, wander around at night. She sighed, she was busted.

* * *

 _How long had they been running? She didn't know... But her feet were bleeding and she couldn't stand anymore. She wasn't tired, though, she could have kept running if she had had her shoes on when the soldiers had burst the doors open. But now, her feet were bleeding, the skin was torn and even an adult man would be unable to bear the pain. Michelle came back when she noticed that she had fallen. She crouched down and mentioned for her to climb on her back, which the little girl did. Michelle carried her on her back for almost an hour, running all the time, never pausing for even a minute. The rain had finally stopped and they were standing at the edge of the forest. When the morning came, they would be able to go get help from the old man of the library. He would take them somewhere safe, he had done it in the past. They sat in silence behind thick bushes and Lucy tried very hard to stop crying. The pain was unbearable for a little girl and it was even worse when she looked at her feet and saw the wounds, the blood and the dirt that was sticking to the torn skin. She managed to stop crying, but still kept sobbing lightly in her sister's arms. Michelle was crying too, but she didn't even know that she was, she couldn't feel the tears running down her cheeks. The older girl waited for about an hour for Lucy to fall asleep, but the little girl was agonizing and shaking because of the frozen wind. She would never survive the night in these conditions. Michelle shifted so she could lay Lucy down and kissed her forehead._

 _"I'm going to get help," she assured, "I'll be back in no time. Promise me that you won't fall asleep in the meantime."_

 _Lucy promised and Michelle jumped out of the bushes and ran like a cheetah. Lucy loved Michelle dearly, she didn't want her older sister to be mad at her. So she tried very hard to keep quiet and stay awake. But the cold was getting stronger with every passing second, she already couldn't feel her toes anymore. And the wounds were so horribly painful, maybe it would be better to sleep so she didn't have to feel the pain anymore... Maybe, if she slept deeply enough, the faces of her servants would disappear from her mind and she wouldn't have to see Miss Spetto's tears as the soldiers dragged her from the ankles into one of the rooms that were being ransacked. Maybe she would stop hearing her cries... But Michelle would be sad, so, so sad. She couldn't leave Michelle alone after she came back to save her. She had to be brave and bear with the pain! Her mother had borne with the pain for years, she could be brave like her mother! A cracking sound efficiently woke her up completely as large hands wrapped themselves around her thin, injured ankles and pulled on them._

 _"Hello, little squirrel," the man purred. "You don't look too well, you're lucky I found you."_

 _He wasn't a soldier, he didn't have a uniform on and Lucy had never seen him before. Had he come to help her?_

 _"I'm cold," she cried, "and I'm hurt..."_

 _The man smiled and caressed her cheek with so much delicacy it made the girl cry even more._

 _"Don't worry, my sweet angel," he whispered, "uncle here will take care of you..."_

 _One of his hands stayed on her ankle as the other went to his belt buckle. Suddenly, he didn't look nice at all anymore._

 _"Wait," Lucy ordered, "I don't want your help anymore."_

 _She tried to free her ankle from his grip, but he held firm._

 _"What are you saying," he laughed, "you're hurt and you're all alone. You can't stay here, I'll take you home with me."_

 _"I'm not alone!" Lucy retorted. "And I don't want your help! Let go!"_

 _"Fierce," the man laughed, still not letting go. "Scream all you want, no one's out at this hou..."_

 _BANG!_

 _The sound had been deafening, powerful. Next thing she knew, the man was lying on the earth with a hole in his head and she was staring at a small silhouette a few feet away from her. From what she could make out, it seemed to be a boy, a bit older than herself. Holding a shotgun. A girl with long blonde hair came running her way from behind him. It was Michelle._

* * *

"You will hate today's training," Natsu told the recruits as a greeting the following day.

It was only five in the morning and the only recruits present were the ones that had been selected to participate in the game of Capture the Flag. Lucy realized that those of them who had been left out of the team would never reach the top of the ranking, and the ones that would integrate the Elite Squad were standing beside her that morning, yawning and mumbling. She straightened up. The commander yawned and stretched, which was quite surprising from him. Standing beside him were the lieutenant Dreyar, the lieutenant-colonel Clive, Mira, Bob and Ivan. Lucy frowned when she saw him, but he didn't even glance at her. He was just standing there, hands behind his back, quietly listening to Natsu.

"First of all," the latter explained, "I'll have you choose one of us, the one you trust the most. Choose wisely because things will get personal today."

Lucy gulped. How personal exactly? At that moment, Lucy discovered that she had two distinct personalities fighting for power in her head. The first personality was freaking out, screaming at her to run away before they figured her secret out. The second personality, the loudest one, was showing her very hot fantasies in which she was getting very personal with the commander. She felt the heat rush to her cheeks and was sure that she was blushing. " _Bad Lucy, bad girl, stop imagining your commander in the shower. With you_." A tingling feeling on the left side of her face made her turn her head and she saw that Ivan was finally looking at her, smirking as if he could hear everything she was thinking. Just in case, she conjured images of apples, chocolate, honey and fritters. It actually made her hungry...

"To be more precise," Natsu went on, "we will have you face your strongest primitive fear."

This attracted the recruits' attention. Most of them, including Lucy, started to regret ever applying for the team.

"We observed you all," the commander said, "we have a test ready for every one of you. You're obviously allowed to refuse, but if you do, you're out of the team. And you'll still have to pass this test next year, with the other recruits. If you stay and do it today, you get to choose the instructor that will be with you when it happens."

A heavy silence followed his words, none of the recruits feeling confident enough to talk first. Primitive fear, he said? Then, it had nothing to do with her being a girl. And Lucy wasn't exactly the kind of girl to be scared of snakes so it should be fine, right?

"If you don't have any question," Clive said, "we'll start. Is there anyone who wants to give up now?"

A few of the recruits did raise their hands. And to Lucy's, and everybody's, greatest surprise, among those recruits was Loke.

"What the hell are you doing?" she furiously whispered.

He shrugged and sheepishly smiled.

"I guess I'm just not ready for that yet," he answered.

Lucy frowned. Loke was brave, she knew it, she had seen it. Why was he giving up now? Natsu wrote the names of the recruits that were giving up on a paper and raised an eyebrow when he saw Loke.

"Shishikyū?" he asked. "You have a question?"

Good! Lucy mentally cheered, he was giving him a chance! But Loke shook his head.

"No, sir," he retorted, "I'm giving up."

Natsu sent a quick glance at Lucy, who probably looked like the world was coming to an end, and shrugged before writing Loke's name down.

"As you wish," he said.

Loke and the other three recruits that were out of the team went back to their rooms as the instructors starting forming the teams.

"As I said," Natsu explained, "you have to choose the instructor you trust the most since the test can be pretty nerve-racking."

The instructor she trusted the most, huh? There was no doubt for Lucy that Mira was the only one she really trusted. She even knew her secret, she was betraying her country for her. And so, when her turn came to choose her instructor, the only obvious answer that came to her was her name, it was the only rational choice. The right choice.

"Commander Dragneel," she heard herself say.

Inside her head, Pandemonium broke loose. " _What the flying fuck are you doing, you stupid, moronic suicidal brat?"_ one of her personalities roared. " _Are you trying to get us all killed? We would have been safe with Mira! What have you done!?"_ She screwed up. She knew it. And yet...

"Are you sure?" Natsu asked.

He was watching her with earnest curiosity, and to anyone, he probably looked like the concerned instructor he was. But, when she looked into his eyes, all she could see was _hunger_. She was the gazelle chasing the lion, but the result will be the same in the end: he will eat her. She nodded.

"Yes."

He nodded too, and, even though he didn't smile or even react in any way, she saw satisfaction in his eyes. When Gajeel's turn came, Lucy was stunned to hear him choose Ivan. The way he spat his name made her believe that he was only going with Ivan to show that he wasn't afraid of him, but Lucy couldn't help but be worried. Gray chose Clive and Elfman obviously went with his sister. Sister who was staring at Lucy with a very smug smile. Whatever, it wasn't like anything special had happened just now... All the recruits followed their instructors to the smaller barracks behind the academy's field and all of them had to wait for their turn outside the barracks. Elfman was one of the first recruits to go inside. He had red eyes when he got out and refused to talk about the test. Same thing could be said about most of the recruits, even though some of them agreed to talk about it.

"They gave me a knife," Alzack explained, "and told me to throw it at a target."

"That's," Lucy hesitated, "pretty easy..."

Alzack snickered and his eyes focused on his feet.

"Not when you're blindfolded and the target is attached to a necklace around a woman's neck..."

… What?

"Are you serious?" Lucy asked.

She couldn't believe it.

"Who was your instructor?" she asked again when he nodded.

He snorted.

"Ivan," he spat, "I wanted to imitate Gajeel and show him I'd never be his victim or his toy. And I ended up being just that..."

Lucy gulped when a very gruesome question came to her mind.

"Did you... did you throw the knife?"

Alzack's eyes never left his shoes, and even after that day, he could never look anybody in the eye again.

"He said I'd be kicked out of the team if I refused," his voice cracked as he went on, "he said I'd be kicked out of the Academy soon after, he'd see to it. So I threw the knife."

And suddenly, Jack Frost had his hand pressed against the nape of her neck. She felt nauseous.

"I didn't hurt her or anything," Alzack quickly added, "they made her leave the room while I was being blindfolded."

But he still threw the knife...

Lucy's turn came soon after, it was almost 11 in the morning. Almost everyone had finished the test by now and they were all waiting quietly, sitting under the bright sun, barely talking to each other. Gray came out of his barrack just before Lucy was called inside hers. She didn't even need to ask him what his test had been about. The boy was half naked, which was far from abnormal for him, completely soaked and furiously rubbing at his eyes. So he was scared of drowning, huh? She took a deep breath in when she heard her name and walked in the barrack. Natsu was waiting for her inside, he nodded at her when she saw him.

"This way," he said.

He led her to a smaller room and she entered when he opened the door for her. The room was almost completely empty, save for a table in the center of it. No chairs, no carpet, nothing on the walls, just this table. The door closed behind her and she turned around, half expecting to be alone. But Natsu was still here, staring at her, arms crossed.

"Um..." Lucy hesitated, "am I supposed to face my fear of tables?"

The commander didn't laugh, didn't even smile. He just stared at her, his arms still crossed on his chest. It got to a point where Lucy wondered if she was supposed to be afraid of silence. Or maybe she was supposed to be scared of a silent commander, which was totally the case.

"I don't really..." she started.

"Sit on the table," he ordered.

Lucy hesitated and frowned.

"What?"

The commander sighed and let his arms fall to his sides, where his hands grabbed the fabric of his shirt and pulled it up. He threw the shirt to the side of the room and repeated.

"Sit on the table."

Lucy usually enjoyed seeing her commander without a shirt on, but, for some obvious reason, the only thing she currently wanted was to get out of this room.

"Why?"

He growled and took two or three steps forward.

"Because your commander is ordering you to do so," he said.

Lucy took a step back at each of his steps toward her and he grew impatient, she could see it in the way his jaw contracted, his fists clenched. What the hell was he doing? This was just a test, right? And he was a nice guy, he didn't do _that_ kind of thing, right? Then she remembered the moment she had told him she chose him, the hunger in his eyes, it was pretty damn similar to what she could read in his eyes now. And she had started to think that _maybe_ she could find an ally in the army, that _maybe_ all the officers weren't cruel, abusive bastards! Fuck it, that's what she got for trusting another soldier? Her heart and soul suddenly turned to ice as she stared at her commander. She obviously couldn't kill him but she could escape. She could go find the general and tell him about those crazy tests and the way his officers behaved when no one was looking.

"Sit," Natsu ordered again.

Lucy glared at him and dashed forward to reach the door. She was actually impressed with her own speed, but the commander still managed to catch her by the waist and lift her up before throwing her on the table. He grabbed her wrists to pin her down but she could still kick him and hit his ribs with her knees. She fought back like a tigress, but he was too strong and she soon found herself unable to move. He climbed on the table to press his legs against her owns so that she couldn't move anymore and gathered both her thin wrists in one of his large hands. His other hand went to grab the fabric of her shirt and he tried to lift it up, but the blonde recruit hadn't said her last word. Since he was leaning forward and blocking both her hands and legs, she would use her last weapon. She lifted her upper body and bit his shoulder at the junction with the neck. She bit him hard. He yelped and let her hands go to try and free himself from the human piranha that was biting him.

"Hey," he protested, not looking too hurt, "that hurts! Let go! I get it, I get it, I give up, let me explain!"

She did as she was told and let him go. She had blood dripping from one side of her mouth, she had managed to cut herself with one of her teeth when biting him. Natsu would have laughed if it wasn't for the pissed look she was giving him.

"Sorry, dude," he started, "I know it's going to break your heart, but I'm not into guys."

He told her that the instructors that had observed her during the past few weeks all noticed that she had a tendency to avoid physical contact and even seemed to fear it when it came from some people.

"Large men," he said, "or Ivan and me. This test wasn't made to help you fight your fear, you were supposed to call for help and the test would have been over. You were supposed to acknowledge your fear."

Lucy still wanted to punch him. It's not like it was a secret that the Academy was making the students go through a very hard training, but she hadn't expected that. Was she going to go through such an experience again in the future if she stayed at the Academy? She got out of the barrack without a look for her commander and went to sit beside Gray on a lump of rock near the field. The heat was almost unbearable, but she didn't complain. She actually didn't say a thing at all, neither did Gray. They just waited in silence for the other recruits to be done with their test. They just wanted to leave this place and go back to their room, eat, sleep, shower, do anything that would prevent them from thinking.

"Her name was Ur," Gray suddenly said, his voice but a faint, broken whisper. "She was my adoptive mother."

Lucy wasn't sure if he was talking to her or to himself, but she knew that he needed to speak and that she had no right to stop him, it was her role, as a friend, to listen to whatever he had to say.

"I loved her dearly," the boy went on. "But we fought a lot. And one day, she left the house after a pretty big fight. I said things I didn't mean and she went out. We lived in a small town in the mountains in the north of the country, right by the sea. A huge hurricane struck the region that night and she never came back home. I had a brother at the time. We searched for her all night long, and the day after, and the day after... There were so many missing people. We found her five days after the storm. The doctors said she had drowned."

Lucy didn't say a thing, she made sure that no one was looking and she grabbed his hand, he let her do.

"She drowned..."

Gray stopped talking after this and Lucy didn't try to ask any question or say anything comforting, he had already said everything he needed to say. Natsu got out of his barrack along with his last recruit, who looked like he'd throw up at any time, and his eyes searched the crowd for a moment before he found Lucy. She was still holding Gray's hand and was doing her best to ignore the commander, who turned away and went to talk with Clive and Mira.

"Where's Ivan?" he asked. "Everyone's done, we should go back to the main building."

"He's with his last recruit," Clive answered, "but it's been quite some time now that you mentio..."

A loud bang interrupted him and silence filled the air as the recruits and the instructors all turned their attention to Ivan's barrack. The first bang was quickly followed by several others, each more powerful than the previous one. And then they heard the scream.

"LET ME OUT!"

It was undeniably Gajeel's voice. Lucy jumped back to her feet and was surprised to see Gray do the same, as if Gajeel's scream had pulled him out of his sad thoughts. Natsu frowned as the lieutenant walked toward them.

"What the hell is he doing in there..."

"LET ME OUT!" He screamed again. "I'M FUCKING SERIOUS, I'LL KILL YOU, BASTARD! LET ME OUT OF HERE!"

Natsu and Clive both entered Ivan's barrack while Mira and Laxus stood in front of the door and kept the recruits away from it.

"Your instructors are already taking care of it," Mira assured, "go back to your seats and wait."

Someone screamed inside the barrack, people were arguing. It sounded serious. Natsu got out of the barrack a few minutes with Gajeel by his side. The recruit's hands were bleeding and his whole body was shaking in fury. No one dared approach him.

"Mira, Laxus, Bob," Natsu called, "take the recruits to the main building. I'll explain everything to you later. Leave Ivan to Gildarts."

It was the first time Lucy heard someone call the lieutenant-colonel by his first name and it went to prove how serious the situation was. Just what had happened in there? The blonde recruit turned her head to try and get a look at the inside of the barrack, but instead saw Bob whispering something in Mira's ear. The older woman's face went very pale and she nodded, her eyes solemn. She then caught the blonde's eyes and waved at her to come. Lucy obeyed.

"Go to the nurses' building," she said, "ask for Levy McGarden and go to the general's office with her."

Confusion was written all over Lucy's face.

"Why?" she asked. "What happened? Why do I need to fetch one nurse in particular?"

Mira sighed, but still answered in a low voice.

"Ivan locked Gajeel up in a coffin," she explained. "This girl is probably the only person that could calm him down right now... Ivan was only supposed to get Gajeel to admit that he was scared of enclosed spaces, but he completely screwed up."

"Are you serious?"

It couldn't be a coincidence. Gajeel was Lucy's friend, and Ivan locked him up in a coffin... It was his first serious warning to her. She sure of it. Her fists clenched at her sides and her jaw contracted as she turned to run to the nurses' building. He wanted her to choose between submission and violence, huh? Very well, she chose violence.

* * *

End of chapter 5

I'm late, but I'm back! The chapter was pretty intense, but the upcoming ones will be funnier!

P.S.: Of course, this story is a fiction, which means I made everything you read up.

Until next time!


	6. Chapter 6: The deepest abyss

**PART I – Resolution**

Chapter VI – The deepest abyss

* * *

" _When we honestly ask ourselves which person in our lives mean the most to us, we often find that it is those who, instead of giving advice, solutions, or cures, have chosen rather to share our pain and touch our wounds with a warm and tender hand. The friend who can be silent with us in a moment of despair or confusion, who can stay with us in an hour of grief and bereavement, who can tolerate not knowing, not curing, not healing and face with us the reality of our powerlessness, that is a friend who cares."  
― Henri J.M. Nouwen, Out of Solitude: Three Meditations on the Christian Life_

* * *

"Where can I find Levy McGarden?"

Lucy slammed her hands on the supervisor's counter and the old woman that was sitting in the office blenched at the loud noise.

"You..." she stuttered, trying to regain her composure, "you're not allowed in this..."

"I don't have time for this," Lucy interrupted. "The colonel Strauss sent me here, it's an order from her, take me to Levy McGarden this instant!"

The old supervisor visibly wasn't used to be addressed to in such a rude way, if the outraged look she sent Lucy was anything to go by, but she still got up from her seat and motioned for Lucy to follow her. She walked pretty fast for an old lady and Lucy was ashamed to admit that she had to trot behind her to keep up with her. The corridors of the building were yellow from the floor to the ceiling and seemed to stretch to infinity as they hurried along them. They climbed up two staircases, took at least eight turns that all opened on new long corridors. Finally, they came to stop in front of an old-looking red door and the old supervisor knocked so hard that Lucy was afraid she would hurt her hand. A woman with long black hair opened the door, she looked rather young and very confused.

"Miss Babasaama?" the young teacher asked. "Do you need something?"

Lucy peeked inside and saw that all the girls had their heads turned toward the door. Some of them were actually openly flirting with her, sending teasing smiles or winking at her. The brown haired girl that had all the guys go crazy on the day of the visit of the Octagon was staring at her too, with a smug, conspiratorial smile, as if she knew something about Lucy that Lucy herself didn't know. Lucy averted her eyes and took two steps back to be hidden by the wall.

"Colonel Strauss is asking for Levy McGarden," the old supervisor whispered, "this recruit is here to escort her."

She pointed an accusatory finger at Lucy and the teacher only noticed her then. She frowned and looked her up and down. When she was done observing the blonde recruit, the teacher lifted her eyes back to her face and Lucy gulped. " _Calm down, Lucy_ ," she mentally ordered herself, " _don't let her gaze unsettle you. It's impossible to figure you out with just a visual examination_." The recruit nodded politely, her back straight, eyes showing no emotion, hands behind her back. The teacher barely nodded.

"Fine," she said. "Levy, the colonel Strauss is asking for you. Leave your things here, your roommate will take care of them for you."

Lucy couldn't see what was happening inside the classroom anymore, but she heard the rattle of a chair being pulled back and the quiet, quick steps of someone trotting toward the door. A small girl with blue hair suddenly appeared in her field of vision. She was thin, had brown eyes, a yellow bandana in her blue hair – which was forbidden by the Academy's rules – and looked like a child lost in the middle of a battlefield. Lucy didn't understand what was so special about her. She looked like a baby squirrel. But, at the moment, she was the person her friend needed the most and she was taking her to him right away.

"Thanks," Lucy nodded to the old lady and the teacher, "let's go."

She grabbed the small girl's wrist and pulled her along. Levy didn't resist at all, but she had this worried frown on her childish face as she was being dragged along the corridors at a pace that was too fast for her. Lucy got annoyed, she lacked tolerance when it came to slow people.

"What's happening?" the blue haired student asked. "Where are we going?"

Lucy didn't look at her as she was progressing as fast as she could toward the exit, but she did answer her honestly.

"We're going to the headmaster's office," she explained. "One of the teachers got crazy and locked a recruit inside a coffin. I don't really understand why, but the colonel Strauss ordered me to come to get you."

Suddenly, the weak, small girl that looked like a baby squirrel just a second before, stopped dead in her tracks and pulled on Lucy's hand so hard the blonde almost tripped. She stared at the smaller girl with very confused eyes as tiny hands grabbed the collar of her uniform.

"Who was the recruit?" she asked with a grave voice.

"Wha..."

"The recruit that was locked inside the coffin!" Levy screamed, obviously panicked. "Who was it!?"

Lucy didn't try to shake her hands off, too confused to react.

"Gajeel," she said. "Gajeel Redfox."

If Levy had looked desperate and panicked before hearing his name, now, she looked like she had just been struck by thunder. She gritted her teeth and Lucy felt her fists clench around her shirt. She was furious.

"Let's go!"

And just like that, Lucy suddenly became the one being dragged toward the exit.

 **oOo**

The doors of the headmaster's office burst open as a tiny silhouette ran inside, looking frantic.

"Gajeel!" she screamed.

All heads turned toward her and Lucy, who timidly stood behind the now broken doors, not really knowing what she was supposed to do now that she was here. Gajeel's face was really worth the embarrassment, though. It was a mix of surprise, anger, shame, happiness, relief, all of them successively passing through the hard lines of his face as if he himself didn't know how he wanted to feel. It was funny, Lucy would tease him about this later.

"Shrimp..." he grimaced, "what the fuck are you doing here?"

"Language, Gajeel."

It was Mira, she tried to look mad at him for using such foul words, but the bright smile that had appeared on her face when she saw Levy enter the office like a fury would not bulge.

"Levy, we're talking with the general about the incident at the moment," the colonel explained, "but maybe you'd like to wait for us outside? It won't last much longer."

Levy hesitated, she glanced at Gajeel and found him turning his eyes away from her, fidgeting in his seat. She blushed when she realized that she probably looked like a hysterical lover and nodded, her eyes dropping to the floor.

"Yes," she breathed, "I'm very sorry for interrupting you..."

"Don't be," Mira smiled kindly.

Both girls walked out of the office and tried to close the doors, but they refused to close properly. Levy let herself fall to the floor and sat there with her arms around her knees, sighing and trying to calm her rapid breathing. She must have been really worried. Lucy hesitated. Maybe she should just keep quiet and leave to go find her friends in the dorms. It was none of her business after all... But it was just so tempting! She came to sit by Levy and lightly patted the nurse-in-training's shoulder.

"Don't worry," she said, "he's with our instructors now, he'll be fine."

Levy snickered, but didn't lift her eyes to answer.

"Because he wasn't with an instructor when he was locked inside that coffin?" she retorted. "Wasn't it actually an instructor that locked him in there?"

Lucy shrugged, she couldn't argue with her on that point.

"Well," she still protested, "Ivan's a complete asshole and the worst instructor of the Academy. I don't think he even deserves to work here."

Levy's face slightly turned and she glanced at Lucy, still holding her knees tightly. The small girl sniffed and nodded.

"I'm sorry for talking to you like that," she apologized, "you didn't deserve it at all..."

Lucy shrugged again. That's how good at communicating she was.

"Don't sweat it," she said, "I understand."

A short moment of silence followed her declaration before a nervous laugh escaped her lips.

"Actually," she said, "I don't really understand. I get that people locked inside coffins is scary and can make you angry for these people's sake, but you look very concerned about Gajeel. It almost looks like you guys are childhood friends, or lovers."

Levy blushed fifty shades of red and hid her eyes in her arms. Lucy stared, waited, smirked.

"No way," she nearly laughed, "you two are an item! Since when? How the hell did you guys do?"

This time, Levy stopped hiding behind her knees and sat cross-legged, giggling.

"You sound like a girl, you know," she pointed out.

Lucy's smirk widened.

"You think making fun of me will make me drop the subject? Forget it. Talk."

Levy laughed for real at that and Lucy was surprised by how much she liked the sound of it. Levy had a clear, light laugh, the kind of laugh that makes you think of children playing around and chasing each other across a large field of daisies. Why in the world was she working in the army?

"It happened a bit after the incident with the second years, the hazing," she started. "Some of the students of the medical unit were selected to work with the professionals of the Academy and I was among them. I met Gajeel the day he was dragged to the medical unit by my supervisor, Erza Scarlet. She wanted him to talk about the incident because she was sure that he was hiding his trauma or something. No one told her he wasn't even there when it happened and she refused to believe Gajeel when he tried to explain it to her... He sat in his chair for an hour and pouted the whole time."

Lucy laughed genuinely, it was so like him to act like a spoiled brat at such a moment. And Levy had this look when talking about him, like he was the cutest thing she had ever seen. Maybe she needed better glasses...

"Hey," a rough voice interfered, "don't say useless things to him. Or to anybody else, for that matter..."

Lucy and Levy both lifted their heads to see Gajeel standing in the doorway, looking down at them. They stood up, the meeting with the general was over and the officers were now leaving the room. Natsu walked out right after Mira and his eyes immediately found Lucy's. She turned away and nodded to Levy.

"I have to go now," she said, "but it was a pleasure meeting you. I hope we'll get to talk more in the future."

"As if I'll let you spend time alone with her," Gajeel retorted.

Lucy winked and walked away, superbly ignoring her commander and stopping in front of Mira instead.

"Do you have a minute?" she asked.

"Sure," the colonel cheered.

They walked for a moment and Mira noticed that her younger friend was trying to get as far from the other officers as possible, but it was funny so she didn't say anything and let the recruit guide her. Finally, Lucy stopped at a corner and checked their surroundings to make sure that nobody was listening to them.

"What happened with Ivan?" she asked. "What did you talk about in this office?"

Mira's sweet smile was replaced by an arched eyebrow and a smirk.

"Why didn't you ask Natsu? He was staring at you as if begging for your attention, that was so sad and yet so cute!"

Lucy blushed and averted her eyes.

"Don't say stupid things," she retorted, "he thinks I'm a man and he told me that he has no interest in me."

This successfully spiked Mira's interest if the sparkling in her eyes and her sudden bright smile were anything to go by.

"He said that? Would it happen to have something to do with the definitely very recent bite mark on his shoulder?"

Lucy froze, hesitated, blushed even more.

"How... how would I know," she stuttered, "and that's not the point! Stop it, Mira, you're just messing with me! Natsu's my commander and I'm a man in his eyes. Even if I had an interest in him, which I don't, there's no way he'd look at me in that way."

"Oh, you never know," Mira purred. "I caught him gazing at you once or twice lately, while he thought no one was looking..."

"Mira," Lucy interrupted her, more sternly, "I'll be killed the moment they find out who I am."

This successfully wiped the smile off Mira's face. She sighed, took Lucy's hands in hers without even making sure that still were alone in the corridor.

"Lucy," her voice was solemn as she stared into her eyes, "you might not understand this just yet, but you're not the only one that's here even though it was supposed to be impossible. Natsu has a past too, and a dark one at that. Believe me, if there's someone in this academy that has the guts to stand for a wanted criminal, it's him."

Lucy frowned and her hands tightened around Mira's. What had Natsu done that was so terrible? And why did Mira know about that? And him having a dark, mysterious past had nothing to do with her, why in the world did she think that he would betray his country to protect her when he wasn't able to be nice to her for more than a few hours? So many questions... The young recruit sighed and massaged her neck.

"Just don't tell him anything about me, alright? I still don't trust him. Now, about Ivan, what have you guys decided?"

 **oOo**

"And as such," Makarov concluded, "the lieutenant-colonel Ivan Dreyar will leave the Academy next Monday to join the fighting corps in the south."

Lucy gulped, Mira wasn't kidding when she said that Ivan would suffer a real punishment this time. He would have gotten a mere warning had this been his first transgression, though that might be inaccurate in this case. Ivan had gone too far this time, Lucy wouldn't even need to get involved to make him pay for this. Too bad, she already had a few ideas she would have liked to try. Agitated whispers traveled through the tables of the refectory as everyone was trying to get a glimpse of the grim officer. After all those weeks – years for some of them – of humiliation, cruel treatment, injustice, their officer was the one in a position of weakness. They wanted to see fear in his eyes, fear or anger, disappointment or despair.

"Good riddance," someone said out loud.

Lucy never knew who said that, nobody turned him in. Makarov ignored this declaration and went on, even though Ivan's eyes were now throwing daggers at the crowd.

"Nothing will change for you," he assured, "you will continue your lessons with another teacher that will take over from the point you reached with mister Dreyar."

Mister, Lucy mentally noted, not lieutenant-colonel. When Makarov and his men were done, they saluted and left the recruits to their meals. A minute after they had left the refectory, while Lucy was teasing Loke for being a wimp, the doors opened again and a heavy silence fell upon the room. Natsu had just come in with Gajeel right behind him. Everyone was staring at him and Lucy was considering waving at him to dissipate the tension, but then something really surprising happened. Someone clapped. Lucy heard soft laughters, more applause, and then everyone in the refectory, second years and freshmen all the same, stood up from their seats and clapped, whistled, shouted and cheered loudly. Gajeel stared dumbfounded at the crowd of hysterical recruits that were all trying to shake his hand, pat his back or even hug him. Natsu smirked and ruffled the punk's hair before leaving him alone to deal with his new fan club. He avoided the crowd as much as he could and searched the room with his eyes, but all the tables were occupied. All but Lucy's, there was a free seat there. Gray and Loke were both staring at her, they knew that something had happened in the barrack with Natsu, but Lucy wouldn't tell them a thing about it and they didn't want to pressure her into telling them. So they just stared in silence to let her make her decision, they would respect it. She sighed and put two fingers in her mouth to whistle. It came out loud, but she was still worried that he wouldn't hear her because of all the noise in the refectory. She worried for nothing, though, as he immediately turned his head toward her and saw her pointing at the free seat. He smirked. It took him less than ten seconds to make his way to the table and set his plate down.

"Did you just whistle for me like you would a dog?" he asked.

She shrugged.

"You still came."

 **oOo**

"Triple of Queens," Loke cheered, "off with the shirt!"

Lucy snickered and laid her own cards down. Triple of Kings.

"You're kidding me..." her friend trailed off. "You swore you wouldn't cheat!"

Lucy laughed as she lifted both hands in the air.

"I didn't," she assured, "you're just that bad a player."

Loke pouted and smirked when his eyes found Lucy's again.

"Oh well," he shrugged, "I only have one thing left to take off."

Gray smirked and brushed his knees before standing back up.

"I don't want to see you with no underwear on," he smiled, "and it's almost curfew."

"True," Lucy agreed, "let's all keep our pants on and go to sleep."

For some strange reason, Loke seemed to be disappointed with their decision, but – thank the Lord – still kept his underpants on. Lucy decided that she needed a shower more than Loke so she had one right before curfew, her roommate would have to wait until the following morning. He was already half-asleep when she came out with her protective bandage over her chest and hidden under her pajama shirt.

"Good night," she told him while collapsing in her own bed.

He hummed in response and she was just about to fall asleep for real when she heard him talk.

"I heard the commander is going to a huge party this weekend," he giggled, "I can't imagine him having fun with other people like a normal human being."

Lucy did try to imagine him getting drunk, wearing tight black jeans and dancing with friends, but it just looked ridiculous in her mind so she stopped.

"What are you going to do this weekend?" Loke asked.

His voice sounded strange, like he was already in that alternative state between sleep and consciousness. Lucy shrugged in her bed, her mind not registering the thought that he couldn't see her in the dark.

"I'm going out with friends," she answered, "in a bar or something calm like that. Nothing extraordinary."

He hummed again.

"You're lucky..."

His voice was weak. Why had he refused to take the test? Lucy stared at the blackness cloaking the ceiling and the rest of the small room, something weird had happened at some point of the day, but she couldn't understand what it was. Loke fell asleep quickly and so did she. Well, not that quickly, to be honest.

* * *

 _Lucy squatted down behind the wooden bars of the staircase railing, eyes wide open as she watched the scene unfolding below her with great interest. Her mother was only wearing her light pink, silky nightgown, her hair wasn't brushed either. Her father was still wearing a suit with all his medals catching the chandelier's light from their spot on his chest. He was drenched in water and Layla was trying to get him to sit down so she could wipe his hair with a towel. Then, he took her hands in his and brought them to his lips so he could kiss them with unusual delicacy. He told her something in a voice too low for Lucy to hear it. Layla froze and her eyes were suddenly filled with tears, grief written all over her face. Lucy wanted to cry too when she saw her mother look so sad. Layla wrapped her arms around Jude's neck and Lucy deduced that her father wasn't the one making her sad._

 _"She didn't survive?" Layla sobbed. "Are we sure it was really her?"_

 _Jude nodded with a grave face, Lucy couldn't really tell if he was very angry or very sad. Probably both._

 _"I don't know why she went out," he deplored, "she knew that_ they _were looking for her. It was too dangerous to go out alone at night and with that storm coming..."_

 _"Oh, come on!" Layla roared. "She's been living in the mountains of the North since the day she was born, she was used to storms, there's no way she would have drowned during a hurricane because she wasn't stupid enough to wander around the beach at such a time!"_

 _Jude put a finger in front of his mouth to shush her and Lucy could tell from the grimace on her mother's face that it took a lot of effort on her part to obey him._

 _"Lucy's sleeping upstairs...," Jude whispered._

 _That was when realization hit Lucy's mother and horror filled her eyes._

 _"Where are they?" Lucy's mother asked, her voice trembling._

 _Jude immediately understood what she meant. He caressed her cheek and kissed her forehead. That, too, was unusual for her father. He wasn't really the affectionate type._

 _"They're waiting in the car outside as we speak," he told her. "I guess you'd like to dry your tears before I invite them in."_

 _Lucy could practically hear her mother's gasp._

 _"They're here, now!?" she exclaimed. "Don't worry about me, tell them to come in!"_

 _Lucy's father smiled softly and kissed his wife's lips gently. Lucy grimaced, how disgusting. Jude then turned around and walked out of the mansion, closing the door behind him. A draught of cold air blew in through the door and made Lucy shiver. She was only wearing her light night gown and had forgotten her slippers in her bedroom. From her hiding spot up the stairs, she heard water flow from the tap in the kitchen and splashes, her mother was probably washing her face with cold water to look like she hadn't cried. It worked, as Lucy could see when her mother came back to stand in front of the large double doors. Said doors opened shortly after and Lucy watched as her father came back in, his hands on the shoulders of two boys. Even despite the distance, Lucy could see their eyes. The first boy, with silvery hair, looked like the only emotion he was able to feel, the only emotion he would ever be able to feel in the future, was anger. A deep, cold and eternal anger. The other boy had dark hair and his eyes told her a completely different story. They were lifeless, empty, glassy. The boy with silver hair looked kind of scary in Lucy's eyes, but what she saw in the other boy's eyes was much scarier. She saw nothing. He was so damaged, he wasn't with them anymore. In his eyes, she saw nothing._

* * *

"Where did she go, now?" Erza asked, exasperated.

Mira laughed softly as she put her last bag in the car boot. She had at least four or five full suitcases in there...

"She said something about saying goodbye to her friends," she answered. "I'm glad that she has people she likes here, it makes things a bit... easier."

Erza didn't say a thing back and stared at the main building, across the field. She, too, was glad that Lucy had found friends. The red haired doctor was even sure that, if Lucy wanted to, she could share her secret with her roommate, Loke. He seemed so attached to Lucy that she wouldn't be surprised if he decided to take her side against the army when the time came. And it will come. Mira glanced at her stern friend with a soft smile before something came to her mind.

"Erza," she called, "there's something I'd like to talk to you about before Lucy comes back."

Erza glanced at her friend and kept silent to allow her to go on.

"It's about Natsu," she explained, "he's been around Lucy a lot lately, even if he doesn't directly talk to her. And the other day, when Lucy had her problem, I found him in the corridor, leaning against a wall."

This successfully worried the usually imperturbable doctor, who suddenly blanched.

"What?"

Mira immediately shook her hands and head.

"Don't worry," she said, "he was standing too far to hear us. I'm only saying that he's been all around lately and he has this look in his eyes... I think he's starting to get really curious."

"Which is definitely a very bad thing," Erza agreed.

Mira frowned and tilted her head to the side.

"Is it really?" she asked. "I mean, it's Natsu, if we were to tell him about the whole truth, he'd surely take our side..."

"Mirajane," Erza abruptly called. Her eyes were ablaze. "If Lucy's plan is discovered and Natsu's name comes up during the investigation, what do you think will happen to him?"

The colonel massaged her neck and grimaced.

"I realize that, thank you very much," she countered. "I know that Natsu's most probably be living on borrowed time. But so is Lucy! Erza, if they were to unite, they might be able to save each other!"

Erza hesitated, she frowned, grimaced, stared at her crazy friend. Why was she saying this now? Why was she saying something that made her think that, maybe, there still was a faint ray of hope for them? She had come to accept that Natsu's case was hopeless, that was partly why she wanted to help Lucy so much, there was still hope for her! If Mira was wrong and this failed, they would all die, and so would their families, friends, lovers. This was the rational part of her mind speaking, but the truth, even if she couldn't bring herself to accept it just yet, was that she felt guilty. So guilty. She had given up on Natsu after everything he had been through. Even worse, now that there was a chance to save him, she was scared to put Lucy in danger while doing so. Wasn't she supposed to be the reckless, fearless former mercenary? Wasn't she supposed to be the one to come up with dangerous ideas that involved desperate fights? Wasn't she the very person that infiltrated a foreign military base and set fourty prisoners of war free? If she had refused to go, Jellal would still be there, his wrists and ankles restrained by heavy chains. Erza opened her mouth to answer, even though she wasn't really sure what she wanted to say. Would she tell Mira to give up? Would she promise to help her with her crazy plan? She opened her mouth to speak, but was interrupted before she could do so by the sound of someone clearing their throat behind her. She turned around abruptly to find herself staring at Lucy's roommate.

"Loke," she greeted, nodding, "Luc's searching for you."

"He found me," he answered. "He said he'd miss me."

Erza tried her very best to keep calm. This was only Loke after all, he had repeatedly proven that he was a slow idiot. There was no need to worry.

"Did you need anything, Loke?"

Mira's smile was angelic and so was her voice. Someone who didn't know her wouldn't think that she was mentally freaking out. Loke smiled and both women were genuinely surprised to see so many emotions on his face. His smile was weak, almost sad.

"Actually," he admitted, "yes..."

 **oOo**

Lucy jogged all the way back to the car, she couldn't believe that Loke had locked her up in the cupboard, that bastard! Gajeel had been the one to set her free, how humiliating do you think that was for her? He openly mocked her and Lucy told him to go cry in Levy's arm, which triggered a high-speed chase through the corridors. They ran by Gray on their way toward the exit and the latter smirked when he understood what was happening. He tripped Gajeel when he was close enough to do so. Gajeel then changed targets and ran after a laughing Gray. Anyway, this made her waste quite some time and she reached Erza's car panting and sweating.

"Sorry about this," she smiled, "I ran into troubl... wait, what happened?"

Mirajane's eyes were so red it looked like they had both gotten stung by a bee. Erza didn't look too cheerful either, which wasn't really unusual, but her jaw was contracted and she was shooting daggers at Mirajane, as if resenting her for openly showing her sadness.

"Care to explain?" Lucy insisted.

"We just saw a hunter in the field behind the Academy," Erza answered with a dry tone of voice. "He was chasing a fox, even though he had no right to, and we tried to stop him. But he still shot, there was nothing we could do for the fox. The hunter got away with it."

The ride to Erza's home seemed to last longer than what Lucy remembered, even though it had been quite some time since she'd last been to the redhead's house. Both Erza and Mira tried to talk about how good it would be to spend the whole weekend together, about the party they were taking Lucy to – even though the blonde had no desire to go – about Gajeel and Levy. Lucy didn't say anything about it, but she did notice that her friends still looked tense and were deliberately avoiding to talk about Loke.

"Why do you think did Loke forfeit during the test?" she tried asking.

Erza cleared her throat and struggled to find her words.

"I don't know," she pretended, "maybe he was scared Natsu would drop dozens of tarantulas on him..."

Mira turned in her seat to smirk at Lucy.

"Or bite him," she suggested.

Lucy blushed and averted her eyes.

"I already told you I don't know anything about it..."

Erza was visibly dying to turn around and interrogate her friend as well, but she managed to keep her eyes on the road despite the temptation.

"What do you mean _bite_ ," she asked, "did I miss something?"

Mira giggled and Lucy would be glad to see her smile again had they been talking about something other than the bite mark on Natsu's shoulder, mark that she had indeed been the one to leave. But it wasn't her fault, it was only self-defense.

"Don't listen to her," Lucy said, "she's just being delusional, as usual!"

Mira smirked even more and laughed darkly as her eyes left Lucy's to focus on the amused face of the driver.

"Natsu didn't have any mark when we started the tests," she explained, "but he had a bite mark at the junction of his neck and shoulder when he came out of the barrack."

Lucy saw Erza lift an eyebrow through the rear-view mirror and she knew that the redhead was smirking too even though she couldn't actually see her.

"I have nothing to do with it," she lied, "don't look at me like that."

"I heard something interesting from Laxus," Mira superbly ignored her, "it seems that Natsu looked a bit confused about something until a few days ago."

"And why should we care?" Lucy countered.

Mira's smile got brighter as she nodded at the blonde.

"I'm getting there," she went on. "You see, Natsu's room suffered water damage about two weeks ago and it took a full week to fix it. In the meantime, he slept in Laxus' room."

"I still don't see why this is so..."

"Quiet, little cloud," Mira interrupted her. "I told you I'm getting there. It was around the time when you started to see Dimaria and she got obsessed with you."

"Thanks for reminding me..."

"Lucy, dear," Mira smiled menacingly, "if you interrupt me one more time, I'll gag you. Anyway, Laxus would have to listen to Natsu every night as your beloved commander stomped around the room, cursing about crazy bitches and how 'he didn't care about _him_ anayway'. I'm sure you can figure out on your own who this _him_ might be."

"That proves nothing," Lucy retorted, "except that he's mad at me even when I'm not around."

Mira was about to scold the young blondie for lacking self-confidence and teach her everything she knew about male psychology, but, God bless her, Erza interrupted her.

"We're here," she declared, "but someone parked their car in front of my house again. We'll have to carry the bags a bit longer since I'll have to park further away."

"Why don't you just blast that annoying car?" Mira suggested.

In the end, they didn't blast anything and had to carry all the bags and suitcases to Erza's house, which pissed Mira off to no end.

"How dare they park in front of someone else's house without even asking for permission?" she grumbled. "Those people deserve to be abandoned in the heart of an endless desert."

"I want to be like Maggie Smith when I'm old," Lucy declared.

Erza stared strangely at her.

"Why?"

The blonde recruit shrugged as best as she could with her bags in her arms.

"I don't know," she answered, "she's cool."

"No," Erza went on, "I was asking you why are you saying that out of the blue?"

Lucy shrugged again.

The girls spent the two or three following hours folding their laundry, having showers, picking clothes for the party, doing their hair and putting make-up on. Actually, only Erza and Mira did all of that, Lucy was hoping that they would forget about her and leave without her. But they didn't... Seriously, she was tired, why couldn't the party be held on Saturday instead? Anyway, she became a powerless doll in the hands of the older women that spent quite some time to put her make-up on and – Lucy had to admit it – did a really good job with her hair. Even though it was so short, it still looked very sophisticated and feminine. As for the clothes, they chose a silky bright silver top that hung loosely in her back and short, tight, black shorts that enhanced the curve of her buttocks. Black high heeled sandals, shiny earrings and a silver bracelet completing her outfit.

"This doesn't suit me at all," Lucy protested. "I look ridiculous, look at me!"

"We are looking," Mira assured, "and I think it would be a good idea to let you stay at home. I mean, look at her, Erza, she'll attract too much attention, all the guys will fly to her like mosquitoes attracted by a light."

"Why do you want to attract guys," Erza retorted, "you'll make Laxus mad again."

Mira's smile didn't even falter at the implication.

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Just because you act like I'm not here doesn't mean I'll stop protesting," Lucy argued. "I'm taking those things off so I can go and collapse on the couch, watching TV and eating chips."

"Hell no," Erza growled. "We put a lot of effort into this makeover and you won't let it go to waste."

"But..."

"No buts," Erza shut her up. "Get ready, we're leaving in ten minutes."

"Yes, Kim Jong-Erza," the young blonde mumbled under her breath.

"What was that?"

"Nothing."

As expected from the red haired tyrant, she made them leave the house exactly ten minutes later, ignoring the pouts and whines from Lucy. They parked a few streets away from the club, but Lucy could still hear the – too – loud music from there and sighed as she watched dozens and dozens of people walking toward the nightclub.

"You said we'd go to a bar," Lucy whined once more. "This is a huge nightclub with lots of people and too much noise..."

"It's impolite to decline an invitation," Erza argued. "It's the birthday party of the cousin of a friend of an acquaintance of the twin brother of one of the nurses-in-training that invited me."

"What's her name?" Lucy asked.

"What's whose name?"

Lucy frowned and glanced at Mira, who was pretending not to hear them.

"The nurse-in-training that invited you," Lucy said again, "what's her name?"

Erza averted her eyes and looked at the gathering crowd as if trying to locate someone.

"I don't remember," she admitted, "Sofia, maybe, or Jeanette... Oh! I almost forgot."

She let her handbag slide down her arm and opened it before taking something out. Lucy recognized the things almost immediately.

"You're kidding me..."

"You're not allowed to enter the club without it," Erza explained. "And I won't let you go back home so put it on."

She held the silver mask out to Lucy and the young woman cringed as she forced herself to put it on. This evening was getting better and better...

"I want the red one!" Mira chimed.

At least one of them was having the time of her life.

Thanks to Erza's invitation – she really did have one – they were allowed to enter without going through the waiting line. The inside of the club was even louder than she had expected... Much darker too, even though there were several neon lights on the walls and colored light beams swept through the rooms at regular intervals. Lucy sighed as Mira caught her hand and dragged her to the other side of the room, Erza opening a path for them. They walked around the dance floor so as to not disturb the people that were already there – and there were a lot of them – and walked toward a small double staircase carpeted in black. Erza showed her invitation to one of the giant men that were guarding the stairs and guided her friends up the stairs and into a large, very dark gallery. Up there, the floor was carpeted too, and the only lights that were provided were neon lights. Large, private booths were arranged in a circle all around the room, along the walls. Lucy felt a bit more at ease in the darkness of the gallery and even smiled in relief when Erza told her that they had a reservation for one of the booths. Lucy entered the booth first and sat right by the wall, followed by Mira. But, when Erza moved to come in the booth too, a voice stopped her.

"Erza? Is that you?"

The redhead straightened up and turn to look at the man who had just called her name. With the loud music half-deafening them, it was hard to hear him.

"Yes," she confirmed.

"I didn't know you were coming," the man went on, "you never enjoyed this kind of parties."

Erza snickered.

"As if you're one to talk," she mocked, "I'm surprised that you actually agreed to come."

"I was forced to come," he assured.

"Right... I have company so I'll let you go back to your friends as well."

"Sure," the man agreed, "I'll see you later. Bring your friends to our booth if you feel lonely."

Erza nodded at him and entered the booth to sit in front of Lucy.

"A friend of yours?" the younger woman asked.

Erza nodded and waved at a woman with a very shiny, tight black dress to come over. She ordered three drinks and the waitress left.

"Yes," she confirmed, "it was Natsu."

* * *

 **End of chapter 6**

Early (and pretty long) chapter this time! As usual, don't hesitate to tell me what you've thought of the chapter. While I'm at it, I'd like to thank all of you who took the time to leave a review. I unfortunately can't answer those of you who left a review without logging in, but I read them all and I'm always super happy to see how much you guys like this story. It's very flattering.

I've been asked this a few times so I'll answer here: I don't have an update schedule, I post new chapters as soon as they're ready, and it can take some time because of work, college and life in general, but I'll finish the story, don't worry!

Also, I apologize in advance because I came up with an idea for one of the characters while writing this chapter and you definitely won't like it when you find out about it.

A special thanks to Vilchen: you asked me to keep the roller coaster going, I hope you had fun on this ride.


	7. Chapter 7: Black fire

**PART I – Resolution**

Chapter VII – Black fire

* * *

" _She is a soft, deadly creature. Kind and timid and terrifying. She's completely out of control and has no idea what she's capable of. And even though she hates me, I can't help but be fascinated by her. I'm enchanted by her pretend-innocence; jealous, even, of the power she wields so unwittingly. I want so much to be a part of her world. I want to know what it's like to be in her mind, to feel what she feels. It seems a tremendous weight to carry.  
And now she's out there, somewhere, unleashed on society.  
What a beautiful disaster."  
― Tahereh Mafi, Destroy Me_

* * *

"I'm getting out of here," Lucy declared, leaving no room for discussion.

She tried to stand up in the booth despite the low ceiling and push past Mirajane, both attempts proving to be useless as the grinning colonel caught her wrist and forced her back in her seat.

"I don't think so," she purred.

Lucy stared at her friends as if they had suddenly become completely nuts. She pointed an accusatory finger to the left of the gallery, behind the wall of their booth, in the general direction where she thought Natsu and his friends were.

"There is an officer in the room," she whispered furiously, and the girls wondered how they could hear her despite the loud music, "and I'm not dressed as a man anymore! Do you want me to die that badly!?"

Erza snorted and the blonde glared at her, so she lifted both hands in a sign of appeasement and explained herself.

"You want to run away from the club right after we got noticed by an officer," she summed up, "what a good idea! And it absolutely won't attract said officer's attention to see someone escape from my booth a few minutes after he talked to me!"

"But..."

"God, Lucy," Erza snapped, "I'll make it simple for you: if you try to run away, I'll tie you up."

"And that won't look suspicious," Lucy retorted.

"Let's get her drunk," Mira suggested, "she needs to relax."

"I don't drink alcohol."

"There's a first time for everything," the colonel cheered.

"I'm non-consenting."

"You're a recruit and I'm a colonel," Mira countered, "I don't need your consent."

"Erza!"

The red haired doctor averted her eyes to look out of the booth.

"I can't see anything, I can't hear anything."

Traitor...

A few glasses of vodka cocktails later and while listening to a new song intitled _Volcano_ with a heavy and fast beat matching the speed of the spinning colored light beams, Lucy felt indeed sensibly more relaxed.

"The special effects here are really amazing," Lucy approved, "the walls are undulating in such a beautiful way!"

Mira giggled and caressed the young woman's hair.

"Yes, yes," she agreed, "maybe we'll get you some coffee now."

Erza waved at the waitress that had soon come to understand that the girls of this booth would be generous with her tonight. She smiled sweetly and bent down so she could hear Erza, despite the loud music.

"Bring us three cups of coffee, ple..."

"No!" Lucy protested, her voice squeaky, "I want another cotckail!"

Cot... ckail? Erza sighed and shook her head.

"Just bring some water," she asked.

The waitress smiled again and nodded before leaving to go get their – free, alas – drinks.

"What did you tell her?" Lucy interrogated Erza. "I couldn't hear you..."

Lucy's voice when drunk sounded so childish it was adorable, even if she looked very much like a mature adult dressed as she was. The military doctor giggle, which was more than rare, and patted the blonde hair that was starting to get a bit messy.

"Nothing," she said, "don't worry about it."

Lucy didn't even listen to her answer as she was trying to get up once again.

"Where are you going?" Mira asked, amused.

"I'm bored," Lucy explained, "I want to dance."

"I don't think that's a good idea," Erza objected with an amused smile. "Maybe you should wait for the waitress to bring our water."

"But I'm boreeeeed!"

"Alright, alright," Erza sighed as Mira watched the scene, grinning. "Just wait a moment, we'll go dancing in a few minutes."

"Why wait so long?"

Erza saw Mira's horrified face before she could even turn around to face the person that had talked. Even without the word _doom_ written all over Mira's face, Erza would have understood, when recognizing the voice, that they were in deep shi... Even Lucy stopped talking and stared at the seat across hers, not daring to move.

"Natsu," Erza greeted, "aren't you supposed to keep company to your friends?"

"I'm bored," he said, sporting a strangely scheming smile. "So I came to sit with you."

He slumped on the upholstered bench beside Mira and in front of Lucy, who averted her eyes and looked at Erza instead.

"When did you get here?" Mira asked, smiling politely.

"I just did," he assured. "So, aren't you going to introduce your friend to me?"

Erza and Mira exchanged an embarrassed glance and the doctor improvised.

"She doesn't understand us," she lied, "she's a foreigner. A distant cousin of Mira."

Natsu, who had been staring at Lucy with far too much interest, suddenly turned his attention to Mira.

"Really?" he asked, not sounding convinced in the slightest, "how strange. I've known you for so many years and you never mentioned any foreign cousin before."

"Yeah, well," Mira smiled, "I never felt the need to tell you. There are a lot of things that I don't tell you, you know."

"Of course, of course," he agreed, "but what about the fact that I heard her talk in our language just before you saw me?"

Lucy flinched, he really had heard her after all... The temperature in the booth rose drastically and she found herself having difficulties not to look at the commander. She wanted to see how he was dressed, if he had done anything to his hair, if there already was the thin layer of sweat on his skin that was starting to appear on Lucy's neck. Maybe she should go dance with him, if he got hot enough, he might take his shirt off so she could ogle him to her heart's content. Maybe he would let her touch him. Maybe getting so many vodka drinks wasn't such a good idea, after all...

"She knows a few words," Erza admitted, "but not much. And she can't understand everything we say either..."

"Then, I'll use simple words," Natsu said, his attention back to Lucy again, his smug smile still present.

For some reason, this last sentence made Lucy turn her head to face him. She wondered if the vodka was altering her perception. She couldn't see his legs, so she focused on the half of him she had in front of her eyes. He wore a dull black mask, a tight, deep black T-shirt that enhanced the bulged muscles of his arms, his dog tags hanging around his neck by a thin silver chain and had his hair flattened. Well, not really, but still flatter than usual. In short, he didn't make any effort to look good, he wasn't even wearing any perfume. There were tons of men in this club wearing expensive looking silk shirts, shining jeans, leathered shoes, with their hair nicely done to the side, and you could probably track them by smell thanks to the overuse of _Eau de cologne_. And they all, without any exception, looked like buffoons compared to him. There was only one man in this club and he was sitting in the seat in front of Lucy.

She noticed another rise of the temperature and felt a drop of sweat travel down her neck until it disappeared in her _décolleté_. Where was this waitress with their water?

"Are you okay, Lucy?" Erza whispered in her ear to make sure that Natsu couldn't hear her.

The blonde nodded and finally managed to look at something that wasn't Natsu, her empty glass, _en l'occurence_.

"I'm hot," she whispered back, "and I need to get out of this booth..."

Erza glanced at Natsu, who was talking with Mira, and nodded to Lucy.

"Alright, come."

She took the blonde's hand and slowly guided her out of the booth.

"Where are you going?" Natsu asked, looking genuinely interested.

"Um..." Erza hesitated, "she wants to dance. It's a pain, but you're both busy talking, so I'll go with her."

Erza understood right away that she had screwed up, and it was confirmed in the very next second, when she saw Natsu's signature smug smile appear and strecth on his lips.

"Busy?" he repeated. "No, not at all!"

He practically jumped out of the booth in the very next second and took Lucy's hand in his. It surprised her. It was not the first time that she was touched by the commander, he had even punched her and pinned her to the ground. But he had never touched her gently, like he was doing now.

"I'll dance with her," he declared, "you can stay here and talk with Mira."

"But..."

"Don't worry," he interrupted her, "I'll take good care of her."

Erza turned her eyes to Mira to seek help, but the colonel was grinning madly at them, completely satisfied with this turn of events. The doctor glared at the colonel and turned her eyes back to Lucy, who suddenly looked very pale.

"But... uh," she stuttered, trying to find a way out, "me not sure... tired after all..."

"Don't worry, I'll keep you awake," he promised.

Lucy had no doubt that he would. And she probably wouldn't mind if he were to do that all night long.

 _"Ugh_ ," Lucy internally grimaced, " _what are you thinking, Lucy. You've never been closer to death since_ that night _. Only one dance and we leave_."

Lucy agreed with her voice of reason, it was dangerous, they had to get away from Natsu, not get in bed with him.

 _"What do you mean 'get away from him'?"_ the voice of vodka protested. " _Our life has been filled with nothing but pain and fear since_ that night _, we need to have some fun! And I'm pretty sure we'll have a lot of fun with the commander!"_

That was true, too. In the end, Lucy decided that it was unfair to only listen to one voice and chose to dance with him for as long as she wanted, after what she would quietly go home with Erza and Mira.

 _"That's_ ," the voice of reason hesitated, " _reasonable_..."

And Lucy thought so, too.

 _"Reasonable?"_ the voice of vodka mocked, " _you're just scared of letting it go for one night because then you'd have to admit that it was stupid to live the way you did!"_

Lucy didn't agree with the voice of vodka, not entirely. She was scared, indeed, of Natsu, of him being an officer that had the power to stop her. And it wasn't stupid to live the way she did, it was necessary. This voice of vodka was a bit of an idiot... But it had a point about the need to let it go for tonight. The commander was holding her hand and guiding her down the carpeted stairs and toward the dance floor. He saw her face and didn't recognize her, she would be safe for the time being.

"So, miss foreigner," Natsu called loudly over his shoulder. "I still..."

She knew from experience that the commander had a powerful voice, but with the deafening sound of the music it was hard to understand his words. As a result of what Lucy wasn't able to hear his last words. Wow, "his last words" sounded pretty macabre...

"What?" she asked.

He sent her a bright smile over his shoulder and Lucy almost froze. What was he doing? Was he always like this when he wasn't on duty? Was he like this with all the girls he met?

"I was asking you what your name is," he repeated. "You understand, right? Your name?"

The dance floor was a platform embed in the ground, you had to go down two or three steps to access it. Lucy almost tripped when she missed the first step and Natsu held her up, laughing.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

She nodded and blushed, feeling glad that the only lights were provided by colored light beams in the very dark club.

"So?" Natsu insisted. "Your name?"

He wasn't going to drop the subject, huh? Lucy obviously couldn't tell him her real name and wasn't good at coming up with lies on the spot. So she told him the first name that came to her mind.

"Michelle," she said.

Natsu stopped dead in his tracks and turned to stare at her with dumbfounded eyes. What was wrong? It's not like he could know her, she was dead... She tilted her head to the side and his face relaxed, his bright smile coming back to enlighten his attractive traits. Lucy never knew he could smile like that, he looked younger when he did. She didn't know if she liked him better when he was on serious mode or when he was smiling at her as if she was the most adorable little creature he'd ever seen.

"Sorry," he smiled, "I spaced out. Michelle, huh? That's beautiful."

Lucy smiled, genuinely this time, she liked this name too. She probably only liked it because of the precious sister that once answered to that name, though. Natsu's smile narrowed a bit, but she still could see that playful glint in his eyes. Maybe he was drunk, too? That would explain a lot of things. He guided them through the crowd toward the center of the dance floor and his grip on her hand tightened when he felt her being pushed around by the revelers. There were way too many people here, maybe she should go back to the booth after all...

"Don't do that," she heard Natsu raise his voice so she could hear him even in the middle of the crowd, "don't stare at the gallery. We'll have fun, I promise you!"

Lucy obeyed, surprised with herself about how docile she was. It was because of the vodka, surely. He turned around when he found a spot that wasn't too crowded and grabbed her other hand to pull her to him.

"I can't dance at all," he admitted, still smiling like a normal being, and Lucy couldn't seem to get used to it, but she still smiled back, "so I'll just make stupid moves, like this..." his hips swung left and right, not following the rhythm of the music in the slightest, "or this," he spun around with quite some speed and actually managed to turn three or four times before he tripped and had to grab onto her arm to steady himself.

Lucy laughed, she wasn't looking at the crowd or the gallery anymore, Natsu was doing the show all by himself. He took her hands once again and made her do stupid moves much like what he was doing himself. They probably looked like amateurs trying to dance a weird mix of french cancan and hip-hop, but Lucy couldn't bring herself to care. Natsu was strong, he could lift her, spin her around, dip her, it looked easy to him and he was still smiling. Lucy didn't think she'd have the strength to go back to the booth as long as he kept smiling like that. And, to be perfectly honest, she was having the time of her life. The voice of vodka was right, she needed this. And she couldn't seem to get enough of this euphoria-inducing moment.

"Hey, hey, what's up, guys! Everybody havin' a great time?"

The crowd cheered loudly when the DJ addressed them through his powerful mic. Lucy thought their screams had deafened her.

"Alright, alright," the DJ went on with his sluggish, deep voice – wasn't the DJ supposed to be the most energetic person in the club?, "one o' my pals here just asked his girl to marry him, and guess what? She said yeah!"

The good thing was that Lucy was sure that the crowd hadn't deafened her after the DJ's first intervention. The bad thing was that she was pretty sure they had managed to do it this time. Seriously, was it normal for human beings to scream this loudly? People clapping and cheering, that was normal, but a lot of them were actually crying and screaming with their hands around their mouths so the sound was louder.

"Right?" The DJ laughed. "So, I'm gonna play _their song_ , as they call it. I know this ain't the house's style, but bear with me, will ya?"

Lucy expected the sound that would be played after this to be much slower than the ones that preceded it, much softer. And it really was different, but it was different from what she had imagined too. It was indeed slower and the pulse was lower too. But it was by no means softer. Each beat resonated strongly within her and made her blood boil for some reason. Natsu's smile narrowed again and he pulled lightly on her hand to get her attention back.

"You're not gonna back off, are you?"

His smile was teasing, provocative, and she had no desire to go back to the booth. She knew she wouldn't leave the booth again, her voice of reason would remind her of how dangerous her behavior had been and order her to leave the club. And the voice of vodka was still the dominating one. She shook her head as he took a few steps forward to close the distance between them.

"No," she assured, "are you?"

His smile didn't get any wider, but she saw his eyes turn visibly darker behind his already dark mask, as if his pupils had dilated. Was he drugged? No way, he was an officer and an instructor of the Academy, he'd never take the risk to be caught. The young woman was pulled out of her thoughts when the commander's arms went to encircle her waist. He was gentle, giving her the chance to push him away if she thought he was going too far, but she didn't. He felt warm against her and her arms developed a will on their own so they could reach up and settle around his shoulders. The sound was slower, but not really slow either, they still had to move according to the rhythm, feeling each beat a bit more clearly now that they were so close.

If Lucy had turned her head toward the gallery, she would have seen Mira practically jumping over the gallery's railing and pointing at them with one hand while shaking Erza's shoulder with the other. But Lucy didn't turn her head and kept staring at her partner's dilated pupils. At some point during the song, the beats started to be accompanied by vibrating effects that did strange things to Lucy's legs and lower belly.

Ok, saying strange things sounded really childish, but Lucy was no writer, she couldn't find the right words to describe this sensation. But since I'm a writer, I can give you a more precise description. It started with a tingling feeling in her stomach that seemed to spread to her chest and quickly turned into a tingling kind of warmth that settled in her lower abdomen. The warmth then spread to her chest once more and continued to travel through her body until it reached her thighs, neck and face, making all those areas pretty sensitive to the touch. In short, it felt awesome and she was really starting to want more.

She felt the commander's hands slide down to settle on her hips and noticed only then that he wasn't smiling anymore. He didn't look sweet and carefree anymore. An image came to her mind when she saw his eyes: she saw him crouching in the tall grass, staring at a spot in front of him, all his muscles tense in apprehension. Looking like a predator. She wished he had camouflage paint on his face, he looked even more dangerous like this. Her arms tightened around his shoulders and his own arms pressed her closer to him. Suddenly, there was no space between their bodies anymore. She soon could feel the soft touch of his nose and mouth brushing against the sensitive skin of her neck and shoulder, his hands gradually falling a bit lower, their grip on her never weakening. Her own hands left trails of fire every time they caressed his skin and she felt all his muscles contract a few times. She smiled, still swaying lazily to match the slowing rhythm of the song. She felt his fingers dig into her skin when she accidently, though she never came to regret it, brushed against his crotch.

Suddenly, he slightly pulled away from her and one of his hands left her hips to go cradle her face, his large hand enveloping both her cheek and neck. He looked feverish, his breathing was labored. He hesitated, obviously searching her face for any sign of reluctance. Lucy didn't know what kind of face she was making at the moment, but she most definitely wasn't feeling reluctant. Hell, she couldn't remember a time she had felt so thrilled in her life before. Whatever it was that Natsu found in her eyes, it seemed to satisfy him and he immediately bent down to kiss her. And he WOULD have kissed her if not for that stupid, idiotic, moronic alarm! They both flinched when it started to ring loudly in the club, overpowering the sound of the loud music. Better yet, the fire sprinkler system switched on and everybody started to scream and laugh when water fell down from the ceiling. It seemed that a fire had started in the kitchen and the security teams started to evacuate everyone out of the club. Natsu grabbed her hand and guided her out of the dance floor and toward the gallery, violently pushing everyone out of his way. It didn't look like he was amused by this situation.

Mira and Erza were already running her way when they found them. Natsu ran away before they could get their hands on him, he knew them enough to know that his dance with the blonde foreign girl probably had them go crazy. Lucy's eyes followed him as he reached a group of young men, all of them waving at him hysterically and pointing at her. She smirked even his friends were impressed to see how much she had affected him that night. Her smirk froze and melted like snow under the sun when she noticed that one of the guys were staring at her with a very smug and very worrisome smile. Gray Fullbuster. His smirk widened when he noticed she had seen him and she tried her best not to look like a panicked little rabbit. She nodded politely and he imitated her, looking very pleased with himself. She had just spent hours dancing with Natsu and he never recognized her, there was no way Gray could see through her disguise.

She was shaken out of her thoughts by Mira, who was clinging to her like a giant leech and screaming in her ear that she was so proud of her and other idiotic things. Erza was waiting by the door and they were all drenched in water by the time they got out and into Erza's car.

"Natsu's never done that before," Mira exclaimed, jumping in her seat, "he never even looks at other girls, he just sits in a corner and pouts until we leave!"

She continued to rave about their _hot dance_ and about how they were totally made for each other and Natsu would totally need a cold shower when he got home, but Lucy stopped listening. She understood her friends' enthusiasm about the whole thing and she was still feeling pretty thrilled, drunk with both the alcohol and his smell. But then, water fell from the security device incorporated in the ceiling and the cold drops hit her face and body until she got out of the club and was met with the cold wind. The voice of reason overpowered the voice of vodka at that time and reminded her that, even if she wasn't in danger since the commander didn't recognize her, she had nothing to be happy about. If she hadn't met the commander that night, if she hadn't danced with him, it would be easier to accept the fact that such a thing would never happen again.

She woke up nine hours later with a little fellow playing with a jackhammer inside her head. " _That's what you get when you drink more than you can stand_ ," Lucy mentally scolded herself. She groaned as her eyes found the traitorous, curtainless window that let the sunlight enter the small room so it could burn her retinas and give more energy to the little man playing with the jackhammer. The comforter was too warm, so she kicked it out of the bed and dragged her sorry self out of the soft mattress, leaning on the walls to guide herself out of the room. In the living room, Mira was sitting on the sofa, watching TV while Erza was in the open kitchen, making them pancakes.

"Hello, little sunshine," Mira sang when she saw her. "Slept well?"

Lucy groaned in response.

"My head's killing me," she deplored.

"We're lucky you didn't throw up everywhere," Erza commented.

"If I had, it totally would have been your fault," Lucy accused.

Mira giggled.

"Maybe," she admitted, "but thanks to us you had more fun than you have had in years. You should be thankful."

Lucy snorted.

"Thankful," she repeated, "for what? I have a huge headache and I don't even remember what happened yesterday."

Erza's fork stopped as she was arranging the pancakes in the plate and Mira gaped at the young blonde woman.

"You..." she breathed, "you're joking, right?"

Lucy frowned. She was used to Mira's strange and overdramatic behavior, but Erza's reaction was pretty worrisome. What had she done yesterday that was so extraordinary?

"No..." she hesitated, "why? What have I forgotten that's so important?"

Mira looked like she was about to cry.

"Well," Erza started, "you should sit down."

 **oOo**

Lucy glared at her pancake and stabbed it with her fork for the hundredth time. She believed everything her friends told her about the dance with Natsu, what she couldn't believe was that she had actually agreed to play along. And, from Mira's description of the scene, it seemed like she had actually been very willing to play along. She stabbed the pancake again. Why was she angry? The commander didn't recognize her, she was still fine. But she couldn't remember any of it...

"Oh, wait!" Mira exclaimed.

She jumped to her feet and ran toward the bar where her bag was. She rummaged through it for a moment and finally found what she had been looking for.

"Natsu dropped this during the evacuation," she explained, "maybe it will help you get your memories back!"

She forced the black mask in Lucy's hands and the young woman stared at it, frowning, actually trying to remember something. She didn't have to wait too long as hazy images immediately started to play in her mind. She saw a man with pink hair wearing this black mask, he was wearing a tight black T-shirt. He was smiling at her. In the very next second, she saw him pressed flat against her own body, his hands slowly, but surely traveling down her waist. She remembered the warmth of something soft, lightly pressed against the sensitive skin of her neck and blushed. Her friends weren't kidding when they said that they had seemed very close.

They spent the weekend watching TV and occasionally playing video games or going for a walk in town. Images of the party at the club would keep going back to Lucy at times when she was absolutely not expecting them, like in the shower, or when someone bumped into her and she fell in a fountain. But all in all, she had a lot of fun and almost felt disappointed when Monday came around. She was glad that both women would go back to the Academy with her.

Lucy once again fell asleep in the car and woke up a few hours earlier, while Erza was looking for a parking space in the underground parking. They had to take the elevator to get out of the parking lot and separated once outside. Lucy had enough time to take three steps toward the gates of the Academy before someone tall and heavy jumped on her back.

"Luc!" Loke exclaimed. "I missed you so much! Those days spent away from you were hell on Earth..."

Lucy shook him off her shoulders and laughed when she saw his bright eyes and big smile. She ruffled his hair and smiled back.

"I missed you, too," she admitted.

Loke froze and stared at her. She frowned in response.

"What?"

"Well..." Loke hesitated, scratching the back of his hair, "it's just that if you start being so nice to me I'll really fall for you head over heels."

"Right..."

"You don't believe me?" he cried. "Don't take my feelings lightly! You're the cause of them, take responsibility!"

Lucy glared at him when she realized that he was doing it on purpose: everyone was staring at them. She grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and dragged him away from the other recruits.

"Oh, yes," Loke approved, "I like when you're rough with me like that."

She immediately let go of his collar.

"I'm not being rough with you," she countered, "I don't even know you anymore. Leave me alone, stranger."

Loke burst out laughing and threw his arm around her shoulders as they walked toward the main building.

"So cold...," he smiled.

They finally reached the dormitories and found most of the recruits in the hall, talking about their weekend, their families, friends and stuff.

"How was the weekend, guys?"

Gray wasn't really smiling when he joined them, but he still looked like he was in a good mood.

"I don't want to talk about it," they answered as one.

The dark haired boy snickered and buried his hands in the pockets of his cargo pants. Lucy observed him with very attentive eyes. She remembered the way he looked at her back at the club, his smug smile when she had noticed him. As if he had just discovered the truth behind some kind of very interesting secret. And it still worried her.

"Right..." he trailed off. "Well, I might have heard of something interesting just now."

With the attention of his comrades back to him, he smirked and went on.

"The general is gonna make an announcement today, an important announcement."

Lucy snickered. It didn't look like he recognized her as the girl that danced with Natsu, so she allowed herself to relax a bit.

"Last time something like that happened, you got arrested for Attempted Rape," she reminded him with a smug smile.

He glared at her, but his glare quickly disappeared in favor of a smirk easily matching Lucy's.

"Yeah, well," he snickered, "maybe someone else will get arrested for this same crime today."

Lucy frowned.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Gray's smirk widened and he pointed at his neck.

"A few recruits noticed that the commander had a bite mark when he got out of the barracks last week. He didn't have any mark before entering it and rumors say that you looked pretty pissed when you ran out of his barrack."

"This is stupid," Lucy retorted.

She turned around and walked toward the stairs leading to her bedroom with Loke following her and begging for some gossip. This could become a problem, she needed a stronger cover for her soldier character. She glanced at the whining idiot running up the stairs behind her and the thought hit her like a train: Loke had girlfriends. Gajeel had his strange relationship with Levy. Gray was more than likely being stalked by Juvia Lockser. And almost all recruits in general were talking about having or getting a girlfriend. She needed one too. But where was she supposed to find someone willing to play along despite her more than dangerous situation? Erza and Mira were out of the question, for obvious reasons, and the nurses-in-training would be forced to turn her in to the higher officers. But there weren't any other girls around. She would need to find a nurse-in-training with a strong personality, who wasn't afraid of officers, trustworthy and who'd be fine with risking her life to help Lucy with her plan. Lucy sighed. Where in the world would she find such a person?

She suddenly heard screams and curses from outside, so she stopped in front of a window to have a look at what was going on. An old, chubby lady holding a broom was running along the corridors of the building right in front of her, the medical unit, where the nurses had their classes. Perched on a rather narrow rocky ledge, the brown haired chick with the tattoo on the hip was visibly trying to escape the old dragon's wrath. She sat down cross-legged on the ledge and opened a green bottle, looking very unimpressed with her situation despite being sitting at least 15 meters above the ground. She smirked when she saw that Lucy was looking at her and winked before emptying her bottle in a few gulps.

Dinner time came much faster than Lucy had expected, she wasn't even done unpacking when it was time to go. The first thing Lucy noticed when she entered the refectory with Loke was that Natsu wasn't sitting at her table. She got a bit nervous, but quickly remembered that Luc had nothing to do with what happened at the party, there was no reason for the commander to avoid Luc. Luc was a normal recruit that had no idea what the commander did on Friday night. And it was none of Luc's business anyway. She sat down next to Gray and the conversations were difficult to follow because of all the noise inside the refectory.

"Won't they shut up," Gajeel grumbled.

He was intently focusing on a newspaper and even the guys of their table wouldn't stop bothering him, teasing him and trying to snatch it from his hands. Lucy squinted at the headline: " _Terrorist attack in P..., the 'Rose's Tear' incriminated. The army once again saved the day_." Lucy frowned. Terrorists again. Even though she was planning to betray the army as soon as possible, she still couldn't understand how some people could go to such lengths. The doors of the refectory opened again and a deafening silence suddenly fell upon the room. The headmaster Makarov was here, accompanied by the commander Dragneel, the lieutenant Dreyar, the lieutenant-colonel Clive and Mira. The small general walked to the center of the room and all heads turned to him, all first and second years captivated by his every movement. He lifted a hand in front of his mouth and cough, not like he needed it to get anyone's attention at that moment.

"Hello children," he greeted. _Such a formal way to address recruits_ , Lucy thought, amused. "Almost everyone knew that I had an announcement to make tonight and I'm glad to see that everyone is present. Well, I won't make you wait anymore, I came to give you the official date of the game of Capture the Flag."

All recruits cheered loudly and clapped, whistled, high-fived, even though Makarov hadn't even said anything really important yet.

"Yes, yes," he smiled, not bothered in the slightest by the interruption, "now, pay attention. As you all know, we were supposed to have the Game much earlier, but some unexpected events happened and we had to postpone it."

Lucy's heart was beating crazily fast, she was surprised with herself at how eager, how excited she was. " _Get your shit together, Heartfilia_ ," her inner voice ordered, " _you're not here to play. These people will try to kill you very soon_." Lucy gulped and her smile melted like snow under the sun. Her eyes involuntarily switched to the commander and stayed there for a few moments. He was standing straight and had his arms behind his back. He looked like a proper officer, powerful and disciplined. Loyal. Something akin to a hand made of ice gripped her heart and squeezed it mercilessly when images of their dance came back to her. He'd never be an ally, after all.

"Kids, start getting ready," Makarov cheered. "Because the Game will be held in a week exactly. Next Monday."

If the first round of cheers and applause had been deafening, it was nothing compared to the second. And, even though the icy hand was still encircling her heart, Lucy felt it beat madly with excitement and hope.

* * *

 **End of chapter 7**

The chapter is a bit shorter, even though I have more time and a lot of inspiration... But I really have to work on Lazarus, too...

I'm sorry I didn't know that you could only comment once even if I delete the preview, so instead of posting an independent preview, I'll add it at the end of each chapter. BUT, I almost never start writing a chapter right after I published the previous one, so you won't have the preview immediately, you'll have to come back later to see if the review has been added. Was my explanation clear?

Also, I had a pretty freaking awesome idea while writing this chapter and I can tell you that one particular chapter that I'll be writing in the future will leave you with the cruelest cliffhanger ever! And I won't warn you beforehand!


	8. Chapter 8: Thunderbolt

**PART I – Resolution**

Chapter VIII – Thunderbolt

* * *

" _When we honestly ask ourselves which person in our lives mean the most to us, we often find that it is those who, instead of giving advice, solutions, or cures, have chosen rather to share our pain and touch our wounds with a warm and tender hand. The friend who can be silent with us in a moment of despair or confusion, who can stay with us in an hour of grief and bereavement, who can tolerate not knowing, not curing, not healing and face with us the reality of our powerlessness, that is a friend who cares."  
― Henri J.M. Nouwen, Out of Solitude: Three Meditations on the Christian Life_

* * *

 _Lucy's eyes fluttered open and she was immediately dazzled by the bright sunlight. It wasn't raining anymore and the air was filled with the smell of fresh summer rain on the grass. It made her feel calm. Her arms tightened around the neck of the person that was carrying her and she felt their arms tighten around her in response. This person was very gentle. She heard voices. The person who was carrying her was talking with Michelle, they seemed to get along._

 _"She's not that heavy," the person said, "I can still carry her."_

 _"We've been walking for hours," Michelle protested, "I'm surprised that you still have the strength to move..."_

 _Hours? Then, everything came back to her. The attack, the soldiers, her father, the hunt in the woods, the boy with the shotgun. She turned her head on the shoulder of the person who was carrying her and glanced at the side of their face. It really was him, the boy with the shotgun. What a strange hair color... Her eyes closed again when she felt the soft vibrations of his laughter run through his body. The last words she heard were the boy's: ''Don't worry, he said, I'll take care of you both.''_

* * *

Training was absolute hell. The commander sent his men to wake them up the following morning at 3 o'clock and immediately scolded them for being too slow to wake up.

"The game can last a few days," he explained, obviously annoyed, "what can you do against trained second years if you can't even wake up quickly!"

It had been hours since then and they were still running in the forest, panting under the scorching sun, having no idea what in the world they were running for. Well, that actually wasn't true, they knew what they had to find, they just had no idea how they were going to find it. Among the thirty men in Natsu's team – each of them being a trained soldier – there was one who had a black little case containing a coded message strapped to his wrist. There was such a person in Lucy's team too. But the identity of the ones wearing those cases was a mystery even to Natsu, Mira had been the one to choose them. In each team, another person had been designated as the _Bishop_ , they were wearing red ribbons on their arms and were the only ones to know the identity of their respective team's case holder. Lucy was wearing the red ribbon for her team. Naturally, the members of her team decided to stick to her while searching for the enemy _Bishop_ , but it quickly proved to be completely useless when Natsu's men appeared and dispersed them, leaving her alone in the forest with the commander standing in front of her. Lucy's knees were bent and her muscles were tense, she looked ready to jump away from him at any moment. He checked his surroundings and looked back at her, smirking when he noticed the wary look on her face.

"You know you have no chance of escaping me, right?" he asked, walking toward her with confident steps.

Lucy gulped and took a step back at each of his steps. She knew very well that he would catch her if she tried to run, but it didn't mean that she wasn't tempted to try anyway... And where were Gajeel and Gray? They were supposed to stay with her and take Natsu on if he were to appear!

"You look tired," the commander noted, "we've been playing for a long time already. Maybe you should take a rest? The game's coming to an end anyway. Just tell me who's your case holder and we can end this already."

His voice was smooth and he didn't look menacing at all. She was tired and he was reassuring. Her thoughts went back to the party, he had been even nicer that night. Would he be that nice again if she told him who the case holder was? Lost in her thoughts, Lucy realized that the commander never stopped walking only when he was standing right in front of her, his large hand encircling her tiny wrist. His grip was firm and his skin was warm, it sent shivers up her arm and down her back. She tried to yank it away, but he wouldn't let her. He was trying to trick her! He was attacking her psychologically! Well, it almost worked so she didn't have anything to be proud of, even though she did manage to figure it out. Ok, this could be of use to her. Let him think that she could be convinced while she thinks of a plan to bring him where she needed him to be.

"Will you tell the others that I told you?" she asked, trying to sound as vulnerable as possible.

Natsu's smile softened again, he really was a good actor!

"I promise I won't tell anybody."

Lucy nodded and dropped her head, eyes searching the leafy ground for something she knew was nearby and motioning for him to come closer, as if afraid her voice would attract unwanted attention. Natsu did, slowly, observing each of her movements with trained eyes, she wouldn't be able to take him by surprise. Or so he thought. Natsu was taller than her, so he had to bend down to let her whisper the name of the case holder in his ear. She smirked when she noticed that he was hesitating, he was wary of her. Her left hand went to cover her mouth as she whispered, just like a child would do.

"I took the ribbon in the huts from the first game," she said, "I'm not the _Bishop_."

The commander immediately tried to get away, but Gajeel and Gray pulled on the camouflaged rope that tied his ankles and made him fall to his knees. He was quick to react, though, and it wouldn't take him more than ten seconds to free himself from the rope had Lucy not expected it. But she had. She also expected the commander to be too proud to ask his men to escort him. Everything was going according to her plan. And she knew for sure that the case holder would be him. It had to be. She also knew very well that she wasn't strong enough to catch his arm and steal the case, and Gajeel and Gray had to hold the rope, so they couldn't help her. So she jumped on him to pin his back to the floor, her knees coming to push on his shoulders. She knew the effect of surprise wouldn't give her more than four seconds to act, so she used them wisely.

As expected, the commander's hands instinctively shot up the moment he felt her on him and gripped her hips, trying to push her to the side. His grip was tighter and rougher than the grip he had on her when they danced. Lucy acted in a flash, she grabbed his right arm and her hand brushed against his wrist, against the case. She snatched it and threw it at Gray, who dropped his side of the rope and dashed out. Gajeel congratulated her and followed after him to protect him from Natsu's men. The commander obviously didn't stop resisting just because they had his case, he actually struggled even more and Lucy felt like a rodeo queen. Her knees dropped from his shoulders to the thin spot above his biceps, effectively slowing him down. He then decided to change tactics and his legs wrapped themselves around Lucy's waist. What a funny feeling of _déjà-vu_.

She was pushed on her back in the very next second, his large, calloused hands wrapped around her wrists by her head. It took her a few seconds to get all her senses back and when she did, her eyes widened and her stomach contracted and started to spread an aggressive warmth through all her body, especially in her lower abdomen and along her inner thighs. He was hovering over her, pinning her to the ground and smirking down at her with the most dangerous glint she had ever seen in his eyes. It wasn't the playful smirk she had come to get used to, no, it was a large, predatory smile that exposed his pointed canines and had her remain motionless underneath his heavy body. He bent down and she felt his abnormally high body temperature through their combat uniform.

"That was very well done," he admitted.

His voice was very low and reverberated through her own body, it took a lot of efforts on her part not to shudder. After the party, Lucy had noticed that she was more conscious of her commander, she was prone to remember the slow sway of his hips against hers, the warmth of his hands on her waist, the thrill of having her arms wrapped around his neck, her chest pressed against his, the feel of his lips against her neck. And yet, while those memories were enough to make her blush and feel uncomfortably hot, the feeling of having him hovering over her, looking like a wicked hyena easily overpowered them all and sent violent waves of lava through her whole body. She wanted to grab his neck and hair and push him back down. Instead, she lifted her eyes when she felt something cold touch her wrists. She gaped uselessly at them when she saw what he had done. He had handcuffed her.

"But I'm not letting you guys decode the message."

He jumped back to his feet in the very next second and turned around before stopping dead in his tracks. He glanced at her over his shoulder and looked all around to make sure that no one was there. His mischievous smirk coming back to stretch his lips. Lucy tried to get away from him when he walked back toward her, but he was crouching in front of her in no time, grabbing her tied wrists. Lucy pulled on the handcuffs with no real effort, she was confused. He looked like he was having fun and it was strange to see this carefree look in his eyes. He always looked so serious and disciplined. But, at this moment, he was feeling comfortable enough to allow himself to enjoy the game.

"Now that I think about it," he smirked, "I think you tricking me in such a way was very presumptuous. What kind of officer would I be if I let you go without punishing you?"

Lucy let a nervous laugh escape her lips.

"A nice officer?" she suggested.

She didn't like where this was going. His smirk widened.

"Nice try."

He pushed her back down and Lucy heard noisy screams not far from here as the commander was bending down to do God knows what. The latter stood back up when one of his men ran toward them. Lucy rolled around and stood back up as well before going to hide behind thick bushes, but staying close enough to hear what the soldier wanted.

"Commander!" he called. "They decoded the message!"

He sounded pretty worried, but Natsu only nodded.

"Who did?" he asked.

"The guy with black hair, the one who never speaks, Rogue. This kid is sick, by the way, you should have seen him fight..."

The commander nodded again.

"I'm not surprised. Well, gather our men, this is our loss."

Behind her thick bushes, Lucy was staring at them, her wide eyes matching her smile.

 **oOo**

The academy's cook was called to the refectory in the afternoon and Natsu asked him to cook for the recruits since they didn't get to eat before training. The blonde, sassy cook complained about being exploited, but still agreed to make them some food, that tasted delicious, as usual. Only two tables were occupied since a lot of recruits had given up on the Capture or had been kicked out of the team. Lucy porked out on her meat and potatoes, just like all of them did, and even got the cook to give her an extra portion. Lucy smirked at the recruits that glared at her. The cook would only allow her to get seconds for some reason.

"You guys did very good today," the commander was saying, "I'm satisfied with your current level, but we'll keep training to make sure we're ready by Monday."

The recruits nodded, they were all smiling and winking at each other. It was true that the ones that were still in the team were pretty strong.

"Now," Natsu went on, "I will assign you a position. You will get special training according to your position every day until the day of the game. Any question?"

Sting lifted his hand.

"Yes?"

"Can we change positions with someone else?"

"No. Anything else? Yes, Sting..."

"Why?"

"Because I said so."

The blonde guy pouted as Natsu took a sheet of paper out of his pocket.

"Now, listen closely," he ordered. "Gajeel, you'll be my second captain. Don't smirk like that, it just means that you'll be my slave. Jet, you're a scout. Gray, Attack team. Elfman, Attack team. Sting and Rogue, Defense team. Mest, scout. Alzack and Luc, snipers. Max, Defense team. Dan, Attack team. Haru, Attack team..."

To be honest, Lucy kind of stopped listening to him when she heard that she would be a sniper. This was more than perfect! How easy would it be to join the snipers' course now? She could do it, she could be part of the Elite team. She would find the location of the _Pandemonium_ and bring her father back with her. Then, they would run away from this country and live as free men somewhere far away.

When the guys were done eating, they all stood up and waved at the cook to thank him. Lucy did the same, but Natsu grabbed her wrist before she could leave the room.

"Do you have a moment?" he asked.

"Um..." she hesitated, "we still have a class today, even though I already missed almost all of..."

"I won't be long," Natsu interrupted her, "sit down, please."

Lucy eyed the door, the atmosphere was pretty serious, whatever he wanted to talk about, it couldn't be good. She still obeyed, obviously. The commander wasn't smiling, he wasn't even looking at her either. He was only staring at his sheet of paper, fidgeting in his chair.

"I guess taking part in the game without Loke feels a bit weird for you," he said.

Lucy's eyes kept going back to the door. Why was he asking this? It was just a game, why should it matter if Loke wasn't taking part in it? She shrugged, even if he couldn't see her.

"Not really," she admitted, "I'll just see him after the game..."

Natsu played with the sheet in his hands, eyes glued to the messy handwriting.

"Right," he said. "Of course you will."

His voice was dry, cold. He finally lifted his eyes to meet hers and she was stunned to see the sternness in them.

"You're close to him, aren't you? Do you think you could convince him to take the test? I talked with Gramps, he's willing to make an exception and allow him to be part of my team if he can pass it."

Gramps? Who was Gramps? Oh!The general. Lucy's eyes widened and her smile imitated them.

"Really?"

The cold and distant look on his face faded away as a small, lopsided smile appeared on the commander's lips when he saw her cheerful reaction. He visibly relaxed and Lucy assumed that he hadn't expected her to be so cooperative. He shrugged and waves of sassiness were spilling out of him.

"What can I say? I'm an important person."

Lucy laughed, he was cocking an eyebrow and looking so cheeky, it was very amusing. He reached out and ruffled her hair.

"Don't laugh at your officer," he scolded her. "So, are you going to talk to him? He's a competent recruit, I'd like to have him in my team."

He wasn't smiling anymore, but his facial features were far less stern than they were before. Seeing him this laid back and easy going felt familiar for some reason, and Lucy got the feeling that maybe the disciplined officer with a mask of steel was more human and kinder than he let on. Lucy smiled brightly and nodded.

"I will," she assured, "though I can't promise you he will listen to me."

Natsu shrugged.

"If he really doesn't want to, then there's nothing we can do. I just want him to be sure he won't regret it."

That was a very logic argument, Lucy had to admit.

"Why don't you speak to him directly?" she asked. "You're an officer, he won't dare ignore you."

The commander averted his eyes and his hands reached up to massage his neck like he usually did when Lucy did or said something to make him ill at ease.

"It's a personal matter," he explained, "if someone tells you to face your deepest fear, you won't listen unless it comes from someone you care about. And I heard you guys were pretty close, though I don't know how close exactly..."

He looked very uncomfortable after saying this and Lucy frowned, trying to think of a reason why his cheeks were starting to redden. What did he mean ''how close''... Oh. Lucy tried to stay serious when she finally understood the reason of her commander's embarrassment, but the muscles of her face contracted to force her to smile until she couldn't take it anymore and guffawed. She laughed even harder when she saw the look of confusion on his face. Since she was dying of laughter, Natsu crossed his arms over his chest and leaned back in his chair to wait for her to calm down.

"You done?" he asked when she stopped laughing to catch her breath.

She nodded, though she was still laughing, and wiped a tear under her right eye.

"Sorry," she smiled, "I really didn't see that one coming."

She probably would have calmed down for good had Natsu looked really angry or annoyed, but he was smiling too. Thinking back on those last few days, he seemed to be smiling a bit more often lately, Lucy wondered if it was normal for him and if he was only being a despotic jackass when he was on duty.

"We're close _friends_ ," she finally said, "I'll talk to him."

The commander nodded and stood up, taking his files with him.

"Thank you. Now, scram."

 **oOo**

Lucy didn't even have enough time to have a shower as she was assaulted by a flying moron the moment she set foot in the main building's hall. She didn't know how Loke did to always look like he had just jumped off the second floor. He was only wearing his white uniform pants and a black tank top with white claw marks on the shoulders. His hair was a mess.

"Where were you, man?" he asked. "We've been looking for you for hours!"

"I was with the commander, and it didn't even take us an hour..."

"Pfff," he snickered, "you finally got it done, huh? Well, congrats, now, come with me!"

He grabbed her hand and dragged her outside. Lucy obviously understood what he meant and why he was congratulating her, but something else was worrying her at the moment.

"Loke, are you drunk?"

The redhead turned around to look at her with wide, surprised eyes.

"How do you know? I was super careful not to let it show!"

Oh Lord...

"Where did you get it?"

Loke giggled and put a finger in front of his mouth.

"The girls are celebrating someone's birthday, but it's a secret, ok? You're not allowed to tell on us, ok?"

Lucy let out a funny noise that was half laugh, half sigh. It was forbidden to bring or drink alcohol inside the Academy, they'd be kicked out if they were found out.

"What about the officers?" she asked.

Loke shrugged, they sidestepped the sports field and walked behind the barracks to make sure no one could see them.

"Busy talking about Ivan, terrorists, the game and other stuff. They won't be around tonight. Probably."

Probably...

Loke kicked the door of the nurses' dorms open and dragged her toward a heavy door visibly leading to some kind of cellar. He kicked this door open as well and climbed the stairs down, lifting Lucy's hand in the air when they finally reached the last step.

"Guess who I found back there?"

Lucy noted that a lot of first years were here, as well as second years. The nurses were almost all present. Someone gave her a glass of something she supposed was vodka and Loke dragged her to his spot on a corner of the room.

"Where are Gray and Gajeel?" she asked, not seeing them around.

Loke gulped his drink and shrugged. One of the nurses sat on his laps and smiled at Lucy, listening to their conversation as if it was normal.

"Gajeel's off somewhere with Levy," he said, "I'm not sure where they are, but I think they're still inside. Gray didn't want to come, he looked pissed off for some reason."

Lucy looked around. She didn't really know the recruits that were present and almost everyone was drunk. The music wasn't really loud, but it was still dangerous to hold a party here. God, they were violating so many rules just by being here... Lucy put her glass on a wooden box without taking even a sip.

"I'm not really in the mood," she finally said, "I'm leaving too."

"What? No!" Loke protested. "We just got here!"

"You got here much sooner than I did," Lucy countered, "and you drank too much."

Loke gently pushed the nurse to the side so she could get off his laps and got up. He grabbed Lucy's wrist to keep her from leaving.

"Come on, please," he insisted, "just one more hour."

Lucy frowned. He was wasted. She took his glass from his hand and threw it somewhere in the back of the room, it crashed against a stone wall.

"Hey!"

"Who gave you so much to drink?"

He shrugged and looked around with squinted eyes.

"I... don't remember."

Lucy sighed.

"I'm leaving and you're coming with me."

Beside her, someone bumped into her and spilled the content of their glass on her white shirt.

"Sorry, dude," the recruit drawled, "I didn't see ya... hey, what's that?"

He pointed to her dirty shirt and she looked down to see that her bandage was starting to show through it. Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!

"None of your business," she growled.

The recruit took a few unsteady steps back and left her alone.

"You're hurt again?" Loke asked, frowning at the bandage.

Lucy tried to dry her shirt with her hands, but it didn't help in the slightest.

"No," she answered, "it's nothing, don't worry."

Loke stopped talking, but didn't stop staring with a solemn frown. What was he thinking? A thin arm wrapped itself around the redhead's shoulders and a smiling face appeared a second later. The brown haired girl with the tattoo on the hip winked at Lucy and held a clean shirt out to her.

"You can get changed in the cupboard, there," she said, pointing to a hidden door. "I'll take care of your friend."

Lucy hesitated and her eyes went from the girl to her friend, not knowing who she could trust at this party. The girl smirked.

"Or you can walk through the campus with a drenched shirt on, it's not like it would be a problem for me."

Lucy accepted the shirt and entered the small cupboard. She only needed a few seconds to get changed and get out, nothing bad could happen in the meantime. She took off the dirty shirt and threw it to the side before remembering that she would need to pay for it if she didn't clean it. She bent down to pick it up when the door of the cupboard opened. The girl that was supposed to keep an eye on Loke entered and closed the door behind her. Lucy froze, her shirt in her hand. She hadn't locked the door. But what kind of cupboard has a lock anyway? Since when was she this stupid? Should she knock her out? If she was lucky, the girl wouldn't remember any of this when she woke up. The girl in question smirked and crossed her arms over her chest.

"First of all," she said, "your secret is safe with me."

Lucy frowned, but decided to keep playing her part anyway. If she placed her arms in front of her chest, she could hide the curves and pretend that she was hurt.

"What secret? I was hurt during training."

The girl snickered.

"You saw me ditch class once and you deduce that I'm an idiot?" she laughed. "I know what a man looks like under the clothes, you're a bit too curvy."

"That's discrimination," Lucy accused with a voice filled with irony. She was so screwed.

"The name's Cana," the girl extended a hand for Lucy to shake it.

Lucy warily took Cana's hand and the woman laughed.

"I don't bite, you know. Aren't you going to put it on?"

Lucy realized that she was still holding the clean shirt in her hand and immediately slipped it on.

"I can't say I like you better when you're dressed," Cana winked. "I'm sure you have a lot of questions, but it's late and your friend needs to be taken back to his room."

Lucy hesitated, she couldn't exactly take the risk to leave now that her secret had been discovered. Cana got away from the door and took a step forward to go stand right in front of Lucy, who somehow got annoyed when she noticed that Cana was slightly taller than her.

"I told you I won't tell anyone about you," Cana repeated. "We will have a talk, don't worry, but not now."

Lucy nodded. Cana had beautiful brown eyes, she smelled good and had this charisma that kind of invited you to trust her.

"When?" Lucy asked.

Cana's smile turned softer and she patted her head, like she would do to a younger sibling.

"I'll come to see you soon, don't worry. Now, get lost."

Lucy was kicked out of the cupboard and received a few teasing smiles from the recruits. She found Loke sitting by the stairs, quietly waiting for her. She grabbed his hand and they left. They walked slowly and the cool air seemed to help her friend get better. He actually didn't look that drunk anymore, only a bit tipsy.

"I get why you wanted to go out," he admitted, "and you're right, we were asking for trouble back there. I hope Gajeel's not inside anymore."

Lucy snickered.

"I'm pretty sure he ditched you as soon as he found Levy."

Loke laughed.

"That might be true," he glanced at her over his shoulder and smiled, "thanks for not leaving without me."

Lucy stopped dead in her tracks.

"Ok, what's wrong?"

Loke stopped walking as well, he turned around and looked at her, his face devoid of emotion.

"What's wrong?" he repeated.

Lucy took a few steps so she could lower her voice, they weren't supposed to be outside of their room at this hour.

"You've been acting weird since that day the officers asked us to take the test," she went on. "I want to know why."

Loke smiled and ruffled her hair.

"You're worried about me, little man?" he laughed. "Don't worry, I'm tough, I'm alright."

She grabbed his wrist and squeezed it until she saw him wince.

"That kinda hurts..."

"I trust you," she declared. "I love you dearly, you're my best friend and if you need me, I'll be there for you. Don't lie to me, please."

Loke's smile completely faded away when she said that, his jaw contracted and he gulped. A nervous laugh escaped his lips and he wrapped an arm around the blonde's shoulders.

"Thanks," he breathed, "you don't know how much it means to me."

Lucy's own arms laced themselves around his waist and gripped his shirt as he laid his chin on her head.

"Just give me some time," he asked, "I'll tell you when I'm ready. Is that alright?"

"If I say yes, will you listen to a request?"

Loke laughed softly, he had expected her to answer with a trembling yes and tears in her eyes, not with a request.

"What do you want?"

Lucy let go of him and slightly pulled away so she could grin at him.

"Well..."

 **oOo**

"Why are you smiling like that?" Mira asked when Lucy entered her office with a bright smile.

"Because I'm a genius," the recruit answered.

"And a humble one at that," Mira laughed.

Lucy smirked and sat down in front of the desk so she could look Mira in the eyes.

"Loke agreed to take the fear test."

Mira's smile fell down faster than a meteor on Earth.

"He did what?"

"I know," Lucy said, "I'm the best. He only has one condition, he wants the general to be his instructor during the test. Do you think that's possible?"

Mira frowned, she didn't look amused by the situation anymore.

"I think so..." she trailed off, "but what did you tell him to make him change his mind?"

The recruit shrugged and decided that the start of her conversation with Loke was a bit too private to share it with Mirajane.

"Nothing much, just told him that he could rely on me and he should live his life without regrets. I also told him that Natsu thought highly of him and wanted him in the team."

"Natsu?"

Lucy nodded and started to play with the drinking bird on Mira's desk.

"Yeah, he asked me to ask Loke to take the test."

"That's... surprising."

Lucy arched an eyebrow and left the bird alone.

"Why is that?"

Outside the window you could see the grey sky and the heavily pouring rain that kept hammering the glass. A storm was coming.

"Mira shook her head."

"Don't worry about it," she said, "it happened a long time ago."

Lucy frowned and started to bully the drinking bird once again.

"But you were the one to bring it up," she retorted, "come on, tell me."

The colonel sighed and laced her fingers together, her elbows resting on the desk.

"I'm not supposed to tell you about this, so you obviously can't talk about it to anybody else, but Natsu took the test too, and it didn't go well."

"Really?" Lucy tried to imagine her fearless commandant running out of the barracks in fear, but the image was blurry, unimaginable. "What happened?"

Mira started to avoid Lucy's eyes and visibly got nervous.

"I wasn't there when they conducted those tests," she assured, "even the general wasn't there yet. The head of the Academy still was _that person_ , at the time..."

Lucy frowned, she didn't understand what the colonel was saying. Who was _that person_? And what had they done that was so terrible? Mira hadn't looked that scared even when Ivan had locked Gajeel inside that coffin.

"And Natsu was so young," she deplored, "he was too young to take the test, but he wanted to be part of the Elite team so bad..."

Lucy clenched her fists on her laps. Mira was crying.

"What did they do?" she asked again.

Someone knocked at the door and entered without waiting for an answer.

"Sorry for interrupting," the soldier said, "the general wants to see you to talk about the game."

Mira smiled and nodded.

"I'll be there in a second, thank you."

The soldier nodded and left without a glance at Lucy. The colonel stood up and wiped a stray tear that had run down her cheek when she wasn't paying attention. Her angelic smile was back on her lips and it never annoyed Lucy as much as it did at the moment.

"We'll continue this conversation later," Mira promised, "I can't make the general wait."

"Right..."

Mira caressed Lucy's hair on her way out of the office and Lucy let her do, it's not like she resented her for whatever happened at the Academy in the past, but she really wanted to know about it.

Lucy skipped lunch, she wasn't really hungry, and was only physically present in class. She didn't pay attention to what the instructors said and stared out of the window. The sky had darkened even more with each passing hour and you could hear the rumble of thunder already. It was still raining heavily.

When she was three years old, Lucy saw a flash of lightning hit the surface of a lake in her mother's estate. She ran out of the mansion and laughed as she sprinted through the land, under the heavily pouring rain, chasing thunderbolts. Her father almost had a heart attack when he came back home and found her near the lake.

Natsu decided that the weather wasn't that bad and that they could have their combat class outside, under the rain and the approaching storm. Lucy didn't mind, but most recruits kept sending worried glances at the angry sky. The commander told them that they would box and that the first recruit that could make one of his knees touch the ground would get a reward.

"What kind of reward?" Loke asked.

To Lucy's relief, he looked better after their talk from the day before, and seemed to be back to his former cheerful self, if only partially. Natsu lifted both hands and smiled his lopsided, playful smile.

"You name it."

It was funny how all the recruits seemed to forget what a monstrous fighter the commander was when they were told they could choose a reward. Lucy smirked as she watched Sting try to throw a punch and end up with his butt over his head in the very next second. The same thing happened to pretty much everybody until Gajeel raised his hand, smirking madly.

"I'll try," he declared.

Natsu smirked back and Lucy smiled when she realized it was his _real_ smile. They weren't fighting the commander anymore, they were fighting a young man who happened to be a powerful opponent and was enjoying his playtime. Gajeel did good, but Natsu still won. And the commander was still smirking and sending cheeky looks to the impressed recruits. Lucy walked forward when his eyes met hers.

"You really like it when I kick your ass," he laughed.

Lucy shrugged.

"I just didn't want you to lose in front of your recruits," she retorted, "I let you win."

A sudden crash of thunder made the recruits jump and quiver. From the corner of her eye, she saw Gray and Gajeel gather with Loke on the side so they could watch the fight and laugh at the loser. The commander's smirk widened.

"Give it all you've got, pipsqueak."

As expected, Natsu chose the basic stance for his guard, and Lucy knew he often forgot to change stances and had a tendency to let his left side open when feeling a bit too enthusiast about the fight. What? She knew she'd have to fight him one day, so she prepared herself. The commander was fast and he would be unbeatable if he decided to work on it, but he tended to lack finesse in the ring, he made up for it in raw power, often able to knock almost any opponent out with a single punch. The only problem was that the grass was slippery because of the rain and it was dark out there. Lucy chose the basic stance at first too, but she knew the commander would go for straight attacks, then she would duck and adjust her stance to use the ''low guard'' and counter attack.

"The winner gets to choose the reward, huh?"

All heads turned to the left side of the field. A man with blue hair, dressed in combat uniform was walking toward them with his hands in his pockets. Lucy stared at the red tattoo on his face when he got close enough for her to be able to do so.

"Then," the stranger smirked darkly, "I'll take your dignity."

Natsu snickered and nodded at the man. He then turned to Lucy and winked at her.

"You're lucky, kiddo, I'm gonna make this moron eat the dust before I take care of you."

He stretched his arms and cracked his knuckles. Lucy gulped, he was getting ready for real. He lifted an arm toward the blue haired man and smirked, motioning for him to come at him.

"Whenever you're ready, Jellal."

* * *

 **End of chapter 8**

Alright, I have a few things to say. First of all, hello. Then, a lot of you sent reviews and private messages and I want to thank all of you from the bottom of my heart for your support, it means a lot to me and I'm only writing this chapter today because of you guys, because I feel like doing nothing now that I'm done with my exams! So thank you very much to everyone who favorited/followed, sent reviews, threatened to kill me if I didn't update the story quickly enough. I'm glad to see that a lot of you are already getting attached to the characters and have theories about what may or may not come, this is inspiring for me too.

Now, as for the reviews, I seriously don't remember which ones I answered because I'm old and senile. But some of you asked interesting questions and I'll answer them here:

Q: Guest: There will be some Gruvia?

A: _Yes, definitely._

Q: Fuji99: How is it that Mira woman and a soldier, you shall be made even lucy man?

A: _Mira became an officer after spending a few years in the army, she didn't study at the Academy, she was just called as an instructor because of her skills!_

Q: KittyCrow12: Who pulled the fire alarm? Who was the idiot who stole Mira's happy shipper moment?!

A: _I dont know, he ran away before I could write an accurate description!_

Q: KittyCrow12: I really want Natsu to figure out who Lucy is, but at the same time, I don't... the inner conflict is real. Has Gray figured it out? Caveat: does Gray remember Lucy? Lyon... Speaking of which, what happened to him?!

A: _I already have answers for all these questions, but I won't give them to you. You'll have to wait and see!_

Q: FairyLover01: will Ivan come back?

A: _I'm not sure yet if he will physically come back, but he won't just accept his punishment like that and forgive everyone at the Academy, haha!_

Q: kana-chan: hi, i was wondering how old they all are?

A: _I leave it up to your imagination but the first years are between 18 and 21, the second years are a bit older._

Q: several: Will there be a chapter in Natsu's POV?

A: _Yes._

Notes: This thing about posting previews is a pain in the ass so I probably won't do it in the end (at least not all the time).

I'm growing impatient with the lack of Nalu in this story, so I will speed things up between them (meaning you guys will soon understand why I rated this M).

My Tumblr: hungrypeanut

See you guys soon for the next chapter!

* * *

 **Preview:**

Natsu came to sit closer to her and lifted his hand to take her chin with his fingers. His hold was gentle and he slowly turned her jaw so he could look at the wound on her forehead. He looked worried. His eyes were much graver when they found hers again.

"You can't remember anything?"

She stared at him with a confused look that could most probably be interpreted as fear. She shook her head.

 _...Ten hours earlier..._


	9. Chapter 9: Rainbow fishes

**PART I – Resolution**

Chapter IX – Rainbow fishes

* * *

" _People, I have discovered, are layers and layers of secrets. You believe you know them, that you understand them, but their motives are always hidden from you, buried in their own hearts. You will never know them, but sometimes you decide to trust them."  
― Veronica Roth, Insurgent_

* * *

 _Lucy giggled when she saw Michelle and the boy with whitish hair run right in front of her without seeing her. They had been looking for her for a long time, but Lucy was unbeatable at hide-and-seek._

 _"I think I saw her near the veranda," the boy laughed, "let's go!"_

 _Michelle followed him, laughing. Michelle didn't laugh a lot, so Lucy was happy that he was here. He made her laugh a lot. The other boy didn't want to play with them. Her mother had told her what their names were, but she couldn't remember them. She just knew that the boy with white hair was much livelier than the other boy. The former would laugh with Michelle and her, cry at night, get angry at his brother, do what it took to get over whatever had happened to them. The other boy didn't do anything. He sat in his bedroom or somewhere else and stayed there, eyes glued to the ground._

 _Lucy sighed when she realized that Michelle and the boy had run too far and crawled out of her hiding spot. It was too easy to just stay in one spot, so she often changed to give them a chance to find her. It was less boring this way. She took the corridor opposite to the one they took to go to the veranda and ended up in front of the doors of the garden. Why not? She opened them and ran outside, she would hide behind some bushes. While running, she remembered her mother's new acquisitions, a few large, twisted trees that were planted near the small lake. She ran there, having decided that she would climb one up and wait there._

 _When she reached the lake, she was surprised to find the boy with dark hair already there. It was his first time moving this far from the house on his own. Lucy hesitated, should she ask him to play with them? Her mother said that people sometimes preferred to be alone. The boy was standing at the edge of the small, wooden, circular platform where her mother often used to take naps or read books. He took a step forward and bent down. Was there something weird in the lake? Had her mother bought new fishes? The ones with the colors of a rainbow were very beautiful! The boy stood back up and Lucy noticed that he was holding a large rock in his hand. It looked very heavy. Then, her eyes widened and her whole body froze as she saw him take another step forward and fall in the water. She stood there, her stomach suddenly weighing tons. Ten seconds passed and he didn't come back up. Another ten seconds, still nothing. Lucy felt tears run down her cheeks and she ran back toward the mansion._

 _"Moooooom!" she yelled with all her strength, running as fast as her small legs allowed her to. "Moooooom!"_

* * *

Lucy woke up with a jolt and panic drowned her almost immediately. She couldn't see anything and had difficulty breathing. The left side of her face ached greatly and her arms were tied in her back. She tried to stand up, but the floor lurched under her feet and she fell to her knees. She was in a vehicle, probably in the back of a van. When all her senses came back to her, she realized that she was not only blindfolded, there was something over her head, something like a linen bag. Under the effect of panic and with the recent knowledge of having her head in a bag, it became even harder to breath. She tried to get up again and crashed against the wall when the vehicle turned left. She needed to stay calm. She needed to stay calm. She needed to stay calm. " _Think, Lucy_ ," she mentally ordered herself, " _what happened before you woke up in here?"_ She winced in pain when the van took a quick turn and her head hit the wall where she was hurt. How did she get this wound? Why did they have to blindfold her, goddammit! She heard voices from the front seats, two men were arguing, no, three. Lucy couldn't understand what they were talking about, something about respecting a schedule. She should find the doors of the van. If she knew where they were, then she could bump on them until they opened so she could jump off the van and die a horrible death when the car following the van rolled over her. Damn, she was starting to rave. Suddenly, a large hand gripped her forearm and pulled on it. She screamed and tried to free herself, kicking blindly until she hit something. From the curse she heard and the groans of pain, she guessed that she had hit the mark.

"Fuck," the man growled, "I said calm down!"

The bag was taken off and the blindfold pulled down. She really was in the back of a van, lying on her back, large hands pinning her shoulders to the floor.

"Stop trying to break my ribs. It's just me."

Lucy stared at the man hovering above her and almost sighed in relief when she recognized the pink hair, the black shirt and the stern eyes. The commander was with her. He was hurt too, there was blood dripping down his face from a cut on his eyebrow. He didn't seem to be in pain at all, though.

"Why aren't you tied up?" she asked him, suspicious.

He arched a cheeky eyebrow.

"I broke the handcuffs," he answered matter-of-factly.

Of course...

"What happened?"

The commander's cheeky look vanished when his eyes scanned their moving prison.

"Well, I told you to go back to your room and you disobeyed," he grumbled. "I guess you can figure the rest out by yourself."

Lucy frowned and averted her eyes. Natsu stared at her and tilted his head to the side.

"You can, can't you?"

Lucy shrugged.

"I think I hit my head a bit too hard," she admitted.

"It's true that you slept for hours..."

Natsu came to sit closer to her and lifted his hand to take her chin with his fingers. His hold was gentle and he slowly turned her jaw so he could look at the wound on her forehead. He looked worried. His eyes were much graver when they found hers again.

"You can't remember anything?"

She stared at him with a confused look that could most probably be interpreted as fear. She shook her head.

 _...Ten hours earlier..._

The commander adjusted his stance when the other man approached. Lucy felt a bit annoyed when she understood that the commander was taking this stranger far more seriously than he had her. From up close, Lucy had to admit that he was pretty good looking even with this weird red tattoo on his face. But what struck her wasn't his appearance or his weird, conspiratorial smile. Natsu had called him... Jellal? Like Erza's Jellal? No way, right? When he was close enough to Natsu, he shrugged and lifted both hands with amusement.

"Sorry, Natsu," he smiled, "I'm not here to play."

Thereupon his hands fell to his sides and gripped the edges of his long coat to open it wide. Inside, Lucy saw a shotgun, a few handguns, a lot of daggers and throwing knives. She gulped. Jellal's lopsided smile widened and one of his hands came back up to point at his forehead.

"You should tell your recruits to go back to their rooms."

Lucy's eyes turned to Natsu and immediately spotted the red dot on his forehead, above his eyes. A sniper was working with Jellal. And he had Natsu in his line of sight. Instinctively, both Alzack and Lucy turned their heads to the opposite building, across the sports field. Lucy managed to spot a very weak red light on the roof of the medical wing. He was so far away, how could he aim this precisely with this rain?

"Go back to the main building, guys," Natsu ordered. "I'll see you there in a minute."

Lucy didn't move an inch, none of the recruits did. Jellal smirked.

"Your recruits are defying your authority, commander."

Natsu smirked back and his eyes left Jellal's to focus on each of them, one after another.

"I'll give you five seconds," he said, "the ones that stayed will be expelled from the Academy."

His smile was the reflexion of his eyes: cold, determined. The recruits took a few steps back when he started to count. Lucy knew he really would do what he said. He wasn't her friend, he wasn't even nice to her. She had to leave, she had a mission. It wouldn't do her any good to play heroes at the moment. Her father came first. Natsu didn't mean anything to her. Yet, after her third step back, her feet stopped moving. From the corner of her eye, she saw that Gajeel and Gray were having similar difficulties.

"Three," Natsu kept on counting. He glared at them when he noticed they had stopped moving. "Four."

Lucy actually took a step forward.

"Co..."

A gentle hand gripped her wrist and pulled on it. Loke was practically begging her to follow him with his pleading eyes.

"Four and a quarter," Natsu counted.

Four and a quarter... How obvious was that? She clenched her teeth. She knew where the sniper was, and there was nothing she could do about it. Fuck, there was nothing she could do about anything, she was powerless. Her father could be proud of her... Her behavior seemed to help the other boys get out of their confused trance and they followed after them when Lucy agreed to let Loke drag her out of the field. It finally stopped raining and Lucy felt heavier than ever. She had run away. She was a coward, she was trash. She was... wait, what was that?

"We have to find the general," Loke was saying, "or even Clive or Laxus. We have to tell someone! What the hell are you doing, now?"

She was far enough from the commander and that Jellal person to be certain that they weren't looking at her. So she allowed herself to stare at the black, damaged van. It was parked near the barracks, from their previous position on the field, it was impossible to see it. It wasn't there when they arrived about an hour earlier.

"Go back without me," she said.

Loke sighed and threw his hands in the air in defeat.

"He told us to leave!" he whimpered. "He told us we'd be expelled if we disobeyed!"

"I'm not going back there," she assured. "I have an idea."

A real plan was actually taking form inside her head, this could work. The boys didn't seem to be convinced, though, they were looking at her as if she had gone crazy. And maybe she had, but the more she thought about her plan, the more she thought it could work.

"We can't let you go back on your own," Gray protested, "that's far too dangerous."

Lucy shrugged.

"You can't come with me," she retorted, "it will be easier to move around without getting caught if I'm alone."

"Well," Loke countered, "that's too bad, 'cause you're not going anywhere without me."

Lucy stared at her usually carefree friend. He had changed so much since the day she met him. He looked much more mature, more fierce. She smiled at him fondly and patted his head.

"I'll need you to be with these useless morons if things don't go the way I want them to go," she explained.

"Is that supposed to reassure me?"

She shrugged and laughed.

"I will do it anyway," she declared. "If I succeed, I'll come back with the commander. If I don't, please, find us."

She turned around, but Loke grabbed her by the arm and squeezed it.

"I can't let you go," he declared. "Tell me what your plan is, I'll do it. You can't go, it's too dangerous for you."

Lucy frowned.

"Why do you think it will be more dangerous for me than for you?"

Loke sighed and growled in frustration, he looked like he could implode at any moment.

"You know why," he growled, "if you want me to say it, I will, and if you don't, at least don't pretend that you don't understand what I'm saying."

Lucy froze, her attention now fully focused on her friend. His words were very clear, he knew. He had known for quite some time already. And he had kept silent. He had never pressured her into telling him anything about her reasons for hiding her true gender, never even hinted that he knew about it.

"Um..." Gray hesitated, "did we miss something?"

Loke's eyes stayed on Lucy's, never faltering. She cleared her throat and lifted her chin.

"No," she said, "it's nothing. We'll talk later, Loke. I promise I'll be careful."

Loke kept silent for a few seconds and nodded.

"Fine," he said. "But if you don't come back, I'll burn the whole country down to ashes until I find you."

Gray understood that something very important had happened between his two friends and tried very hard to understand what it was, but Gajeel looked bored as hell.

"Are you done?" he grumbled. "People are gathering near the dorms, if you want to make a move, do it now."

Lucy nodded.

"Yeah, thanks. I'll see you soon."

As she turned around and started to run toward the stupid van, Lucy heard her inner voice get really angry at her.

 _"How much of a suicidal dumbass are you?"_ she roared. " _Do you want to get expelled? Or better yet, do you want your identity to be discovered? Oh yeah, I forget, it was discovered already! Do you want to die now that your plan to save your father failed? I don't want to die, you bastard! Let's run away, no one will bother coming after us thanks to that guy who's attacking the Academy!"_

God, Lucy had no idea her own mind could be this annoying. She reached the van in less than ten seconds and hid between the vehicle and the barracks to make sure neither Jellal nor the sniper could see her. She checked her surroundings and saw that she was alone. She grabbed the handle of the front door and opened it. Where was this stupid board? It looked much easier in the movies... She finally understood that she had to unscrew the whole board by the steering wheel and it took her long minutes to do it with her pocket knife. When she finally did, she realized that she had no idea which cables she was supposed to cut. Well, it was not like it really mattered, if she could cut enough cables, the car would never start. She grabbed a few of them and was about to cut them with her knife when she was pulled backward. Someone dragged her out of the car and she could only make out a tall silhouette before the butt of a rifle violently hit her head and made her lose consciousness. She woke up a few hours later, tied up in the back of the van.

 _...Present time..._

"They found you when you were trying to kill their car," Natsu explained. "You really don't remember?"

Lucy slowly shook her head, careful of the wound on her forehead. The butt of the rifle had opened a superficial cut and it wouldn't stop bleeding even if it wasn't a deep one.

"I... yeah," she hesitated, "I think I'm starting to remember, but it's still... hazy."

Natsu nodded and let go of her chin. He didn't lower his arm, though, and instead, reached up so his thumb could brush gently against a spot on the left side of her skull, above her ear. His eyes softened considerably and Lucy didn't move at all, she didn't even think about pulling away from his touch.

"You've been hurt here before," he said, "there's a thin scar here. I guess this is why that earlier hit caused so much damage."

His hand lingered there for a long moment and Lucy realized that this scene probably looked very ridiculous considering that they were locked in the back of a van taking them God knew where to do God knew what and she had her wrists tied up behind her back, but she couldn't bring herself to care. It was her first time seeing such softness in the commander's eyes. Even when they danced, he didn't look at her like that. She only escaped the hypnotizing hold of his eyes when she felt his hand slide down her cheek.

"I'm sorry," he breathed, "you were hurt trying to save my ass. What a responsible officer I make."

This was not normal. Lucy knew no officer would behave like that with a mere recruit. No one would behave like that with someone they met a few weeks ago. They weren't even really close, they spent most of their time together fighting and/or arguing. And yet, her body undoubtedly and undeniably relaxed under his comforting touch, her forehead didn't hurt as much anymore and she was startled by how familiar this felt. For less than a second, an image appeared in her mind. An image of herself when she was around five years old. She was half asleep, her arms tightly wrapped around a boy's neck. The smell of grass and wood after it rained surrounding them. The van's driver abruptly braked and they both fell to the side, Natsu managing to stay in balance on his knees, Lucy failing to do so. They heard the doors open and Natsu practically jumped to catch Lucy before turning her around.

"Don't move," he ordered.

She felt the coldness of a knife's blade against her wrists and she was freed from the rope in less than three seconds. She massaged her dull joints and watched as the commander switched back to combat mode. He grabbed her elbow and pulled her to the side, right behind the left door.

"Can you fight?" he whispered.

She nodded without a second of hesitation and he smirked. They heard voices outside, their kidnappers were still arguing. Natsu waved at Lucy to get her attention back on him and pointed to his feet, then to the doors and to himself. She got the message: _at my signal, kick the doors so hard the impact will break their noses_.

"We're an hour late, dude!" a voice accused outside the van.

"How is that my fault?" someone countered. "The bean sprout did a good job being a pain in the ass."

Lucy smirked, not minding the ''bean sprout'' comment in the slightest. The commander smiled when he noticed she was proud to have been a pain in the ass for those guys. The voices finally gathered right behind the doors and they sat down, legs at the ready. Natsu lifted one finger. They heard a key being inserted into the keyhole. A second finger was lifted.

"Don't worry," one of the voices said, "they're tied up. We just leave them to the others and go back home."

The handle was pulled and the commander lifted his third finger as a thin ray of light appeared on the floor. They kicked the doors without enough strength to send both men flying backward, knocked out. Natsu jumped out of the van and Lucy followed right after him. They were in a back alley, the sky was dark and they couldn't hear any of the sounds you can hear in a city, like cars, or dogs, or people walking back home or fighting. Lucy looked around to try and recognize the place despite the lack of light. They had broken their abductors flashlight when kicking the doors of the van open and had to rely on the moonlight.

"We're in the Northern Suburbs," the commander finally declared. "In the abandoned Industrial Zone."

Lucy didn't know, she'd never taken the time to look around, only focused on the Academy. She was starting to regret it. Looking back at their unconscious abductors, she remembered that they were waiting for accomplices.

"We should take the car and leave," she said. "We can bring them back with us to the Academy and hand them over to the general."

Natsu kicked the closest man's calf to make sure he was unconscious and looked around. Lucy started to worry when she saw his mischievous smirk appear.

"We could," he agreed. "But those guys weren't waiting for their accomplices, they were taking us to them."

Lucy frowned, failing to see what was amusing. Natsu sighed and shook his head.

"You see that small door there?"

He pointed to a small, barred, worn out door roughly incrusted in the stone wall. If they looked closely enough, they could spot a faint, almost unnoticeable light through a crack in the wood.

"They were taking us there," Lucy deduced.

Natsu's smirk widened.

"What do you say we go say hello?"

… _.LOKE..._

They were so fucking useless. All of them. They had been sitting there for nearly two fucking hours and still had no idea what they were supposed to do. Was Natsu the only capable officer of the Academy?

"We don't know where they are," Clive explained, "we can't just go out and run around like morons until one of us get lucky and find something. We need a plan."

Loke's fists were clenched so hard that the joints of his fingers had turned white. Idiots. Useless idiots. Just give him a rifle and let him out, he will find them in no time.

"How do you want us to form a plan?" Sting protested. "We know nothing about the situation! Who were those guys? How many of them were here? Where did they go? What do they want? How the flying fuck did they get in?"

Loke's eyes widened. He had spent the last two hours mentally insulting his instructors for being useless cowards and idiots, but he was the stupidest of all. Out of all the important questions, one of them was so painfully of the utmost importance, how come he didn't think of it earlier? How did those bastards enter the Academy? A heavy silence fell upon the room as the most probable answer silently ran from each recruit to the others. Someone let them in. His eyes, much like everyone else's, scanned the room to observe everyone's faces. After a few seconds of observing his fellow recruits, he noticed that most of them were sending wary glances at Gajeel and Rogue. The doors of the refectory opened once more and Loke watched as the colonel Strauss and the doctor Scarlet entered. They went to sit with the other officers, both of them looking very grim. Loke frowned, something was amiss. He looked at the officers, they all looked worried or annoyed.

"Let's not jump to conclusions, children," Makarov said to temperate them. "There are several ways to enter the Academy, we're currently investigating this matter. Let's focus on what we do know."

What they knew, Loke thought. At least three persons entered the Academy, of one them, the sniper, threatened to shoot the commander to make the recruits leave them alone. There was not much they knew after that, only that the commander and a recruit had been kidnapped. Luc's plan had failed. Well, Luc or whatever was her real name. Loke had felt much lighter after telling her that he knew about her gender, well, he only insinuated it since the two idiots were with them at the time. But now that the worst had happened, he felt guilty, stupid and angry. He should have kept her from going back. He didn't have much time left to live, how would he find the strength to do it if she were to die because his brain stopped working at the time he needed it the most? What if those bastards figured her out? Loke gritted his teeth and stood up abruptly.

"Where are you going, recruit?" Clive asked.

"I'm tired," the young man groaned, "I'm going back to my room."

Most recruits and officers frowned at him, whispering between them.

"… Are you serious?" Gray asked, obviously feeling very confused.

Loke stared at him, then at Gajeel. Both them stood up as well.

"Actually," Gray went on, "we're tired too. We're going to bed as well."

They left the room before anyone could stop or interrogate them, under the piercing eyes of the general Makarov.

"Where are we going?" Gray asked when they were out of the main building and walking along the alley leading to the sports field.

Loke was walking fast, not bothering looking at his friend to answer him.

"The van was parked near the barracks," he explained, "if you pay attention, you can see a part of the medical wing a few feet away from them, on their left side."

They reached the field and practically ran across it toward the barracks, both his friends following him without difficulties.

"There's a little barred window at the bottom of the building," he went on, "if you look through it, you'll see a small, empty cellar. At that time of the day, though, it's never really empty."

They passed by the barracks without stopping and walked toward the doors of the medical wing.

"We're not allowed in there," Gray reminded him.

"See if I give a fuck," Loke retorted.

They entered the medical wing and followed Loke toward a set of stairs, an angry old lady running after them.

"I'll tell the lieutenant Dreyar about this," she threatened.

Loke froze and turned his head to stare at the angry old hag. The lieutenant... He wasn't in the refectory. The tiny old woman arched an eyebrow, visibly confused by Loke's weird behavior.

"What's wrong?" Gajeel grumbled.

Loke hesitated, he was probably investigating the causes of the enemy infiltration. He shook his head and went back to climbing up the stairs.

"Nothing," he said.

They came to a stop in front of a light blue door with cracks in the wood, it had been kicked open in the past. Several times... Loke knocked. They heard curses from inside and a lot of things crashing to the floor. Loke checked his watch, it wasn't that late, they probably weren't waking her up. The door opened to reveal a very displeased look on Cana's face.

"This better be important," she growled.

"It is," he assured and pushed the door open, inviting himself in.

Gray and Gajeel hesitantly followed him and closed the door behind them. The young woman sighed.

"I already told I don't do that kind of things," she grumbled, "and this one is taken. I'm not interested in taken guys."

"We're not here for that," he assured.

"Then..."

"Cana," he interrupted her, "tell me you were ''down there'' about two hours ago."

The young woman frowned and sat on her bed. She motioned for him to do the same, but he declined.

"I don't understand why this is so important," she started, "but yes, I was there. Why?"

"Have you seen a black van parked near the barracks?"

Cana's frown deepened and she visibly tried very hard to remember.

"I didn't see anything," she admitted, "but I did hear some loud bastards at some point. Levy was with me, she watched through the window. You should go see her."

Loke sighed and grabbed her hands before kissing them.

"Thanks, Cana, I'll treat you to dinner some day."

She snickered when he said that and stood back up.

"Tell me, would your little investigation have something to do with the fact that all the nurses are forbidden to get out of the medical wing until the general says otherwise?"

Loke smirked and reached out for the door handle.

"Don't make me laugh," he said, "you could go out if you really wanted to."

Cana laughed wholeheartedly at this.

"That's very true," she confessed.

Loke's smile softened when he glanced at her over her shoulder.

"Be careful," he said.

He closed the door behind him and bumped into Gajeel when he turned around. The tall young man looked even more pissed off than usual.

"Yes?" Loke asked with his usual – though fake – carefree smile.

"I don't want Levy to get involved in this," he stated.

Loke sent a quick glance to Gray before his eyes went back to Gajeel's.

"You know I wouldn't do anything that could put her in danger," he said.

Gajeel nodded, his arms still crossed over his chest.

"I know," he answered, "that's why I'm sure you'll agree with me that we don't need to go see her."

Loke kept silent for a moment. He had forgotten about Gajeel's relationship with Levy. He put his hands in his pockets to hide his anxiety.

"I just want to ask her a question," he assured, "we don't even need to tell her what's really going on. There's no risk for her."

"What question?" Gajeel pushed.

Loke shrugged, as if it was no big deal.

"I only wanna know if she saw the van's number plate."

A dry laugh escaped the punk's lips and he shook his head.

"So, you basically want her to identify the culprits when we know there's a traitor among us?"

Loke sighed and his shoulder fell in defeat.

"Gajeel, they're going to kill them," he pleaded.

"They're men!" the other man retorted. "They're tough, you saw them fight! They can hold their own!"

Loke froze and stared at him with cold eyes.

"Are you serious?"

"Yeah, man," Gray added, "think before you talk."

Gajeel growled and contracted his jaw.

"You want me to choose between my girlfriend and my friend?" he asked. "You think I can do that?"

Loke's eyes visibly softened at this. Of course, they couldn't ask him to choose. Even Gray, who had the romantic inclination of a mollusc, seemed to understand that.

"Well, you're lucky that I can choose, then."

All heads turned to the other end of the corridor. Levy was there, quietly listening to everything they were saying.

"What did you hear?" Gajeel asked.

"Everything," she assured. "Including you calling me your girlfriend."

The sly smirk that stretched her lips amused Loke. Gajeel groaned and averted his eyes.

"Don't get cocky," he protested, "I was just doing my job here."

She laughed and nodded.

"Yes, yes, don't worry." She turned serious eyes toward Loke. "Luc disappeared, right?"

He nodded.

"The drivers of the black van took him?"

"We think so," Gray agreed.

Levy didn't even hesitate a second.

"I saw the number plate," she declared, "and I can hack the police's computer, use their localization software and find the van."

… _LUCY..._

They obviously couldn't just kick the door open and wave at the enemies while walking in, so they chose another way. Natsu found a ladder leading to the roof of the opposite building and they climbed it up after the commander made sure it wouldn't break off under their weight. This was so stupid, Lucy thought. They were playing with fire here. It was thrilling sensation. The commander crouched when he climbed on the roof and glanced at her over his shoulder. His eyes reflected the moonlight, his whole body was tense with excitement. He waited for her to come closer to him before pointing to the opposite roof.

"We'll have to jump," he whispered, "and land on that stone part over there. Can you see it?"

Lucy nodded. It would one hell of a jump, but the noise of their landing would be very faint if they could land on that part of the wall.

"I'll go first," the commander said.

He took a few steps back and ran, his feet using the metal covered ledge to push himself further. Lucy held her breath until he landed on the stone part he was aiming for and smiled when he waved at her. He looked like a little boy trying to impress his best friend. She took a deep breath in when she stood up. Her turn. She took a few steps back and looked ahead, focusing her attention on her commander. She ran as fast as she could and tried to use the metal covered ledge to jump further, just like Natsu had done. But her foot slipped on a wet spot on the metal and she missed her jump. She saw the opposite roof approach quickly until she started to fall toward the wall and, inevitably, the ground. She braced herself for the impact, but it never came. Instead, she felt the commander's large hand wrap itself around her wrist and hold it tight. Lucy lifted her eyes to see that Natsu was dangerously leaning over the ledge of the roof. He would fall too if he kept holding onto her. He grimaced and breathed out.

"Hold on tight," he ordered.

She did. He nodded at her and breathed in. He propped a booted foot against the ledge to support himself and breathed out as he started to stand up, lifting Lucy up with him. He was pulling her up with one arm... She gripped the ledge when she was high enough to do so and Natsu helped her get on the roof. Her knees gave way when they reached the stone part and she collapsed in the commander's arms. She mentally clicked her tongue, how _cliché_...

"You're a walking disaster, you know," Natsu sighed.

She nodded, her hands still gripping his arms tight. It took her a few minutes of rest while listening to Natsu's laughter and reassuring words to be able to stand up again.

"What do we do now?" she asked.

Natsu smirked and pointed to a door across the roof.

"We go down," he started, "we find the guys with the guns, we take the guns and we kick their asses."

Lucy sighed. They were so going to die. She should have taken the van when she had the chance. She'd be a few minutes away from the Academy at the moment.

"Don't be like that," Natsu laughed, "it's gonna be fun!"

Fun, yeah right, fun.

Natsu pulled the door handle and Lucy was amazed to see it actually opened without making too much noise. There was only a set of stairs leading down, so they had no choice but to go down. They reached a small corridor and Lucy gulped when she saw Natsu enter it. She had a bad feeling about this after all. The building was overall pretty silent, but they could hear some voices from time to time that seemed to come from the ground floor.

"You should have left when you had the opportunity to do so."

Lucy froze. In front of her, she saw that Natsu reacted the same way as her. This voice... No way... please, God, don't let it be him... She turned around and her eyes immediately focused on the gun barrel. After that, they found the face of the man who was holding it. And whimpered. Natsu took a few steps back to go stand in front of her, but their assailant pulled the hammer of the gun back and he stopped dead in his tracks.

"Hey," the commander growled menacingly, "what the hell do you think you're doing, Laxus?"

* * *

 **End of chapter 9**

And this isn't even the horrible cliffhanger I warned you about yet, haha! This chapter was pretty intense and different, the next one will be just as exciting, I promise!

Last chapter got really enthusiastic reactions and I received very funny and very encouraging reviews and messages. Thank you so much for being amazing, guys, I'm really lucky! I'll try to answer each of you when I have enough time, but until then:

Questions/Answers

Q: Ok I'm pretty sure that Natsu is the boy who helped Lucy and Michelle ( unless it's one big plot twist and I'm totally off) but if so, why can't Lucy remember?

A: _Because she was in an accident and forgot some parts of her past. I'll develop this in later chapters._

Q: Is Michelle dead, detained with her father, or someone Lucy created to help deal with the trauma?

A: _I can't tell you because it will be a whole part of the plot, but Lucy didn't imagine her._

Q: I have a funny feeling that Natsu was the boy with the gun... Is that how he got in so much trouble? Or did he do something else on top of that?

A: _Who knows?_

Q: I'm just waiting for the moment when Loke is gonna meet his wall of drama. It won't be a pretty crash, will it?

A: _No, it won't be a pretty crash. You guys should prepare yourselves..._

* * *

 **Preview**

Laxus was sitting in front of her on a wooden box, elbows on his knees, chin on his fists, staring at her.

"How in the world did you get here?" he asked.

Lucy shrugged. Shouldn't she be the one to ask questions here?

"I already told you. One of your accomplices knocked me out and took me here," she answered.

The lieutenant sighed and glared at the commander when he heard him snicker.

"Man, you're the worst villain I've ever seen," Natsu mocked him. "The thought never occurred to you that organized crime was supposed to be organized?"

* * *

 **See you soon!**


	10. Chapter 10: Red flag

**PART I – Resolution**

Chapter X – Red flag

* * *

" _Ah, my daughter,ʺ he said. ʺEighteen, and already youʹve been accused of murder, aided felons, and acquired a death count higher than most guardians will ever see.ʺ He paused. ʺI couldnʹt be prouder."  
― Richelle Mead, Last Sacrifice_

* * *

 _...LUCY..._

* * *

Lucy kept quiet and observed her surroundings with calm, emotionless eyes. She was kneeling on the concrete floor, wrists tied in her back. Laxus was sitting in front of her on a wooden box, elbows on his knees, chin on his fists, staring at her.

"How in the world did you get here?" he asked.

Lucy shrugged. Shouldn't she be the one to ask questions here?

"I already told you. One of your accomplices knocked me out and took me here," she answered.

The lieutenant sighed and glared at the commander when he heard him snicker.

"Man, you're the worst villain I've ever seen," Natsu mocked him. "The thought never occurred to you that organized crime was supposed to be organized?"

The lieutenant was probably killing him in a hundred different ways in his head.

"You were supposed to be alone," he retorted.

"And you were supposed to be a good person," the commander rumbled. "We trusted you."

Lucy's eyes went from the commander to the lieutenant and observed his reaction. Natsu was right, Laxus was a devoted officer. His betrayal made no sense. Lucy frowned, something was amiss. Laxus snickered and arched a brow at Natsu.

"Are you trying to make me cry?" he asked. "I didn't know you were such a sensitive wuss."

The commander growled and pulled on his chains. His hands were tied in his back with large chains around a massive pillar. The lieutenant really didn't want him to free himself.

"Aren't you at least going to explain yourself?"

Laxus turned surprised eyes to Lucy, as if he had forgotten about her. It was true that she wasn't supposed to be there, though. The lieutenant smiled and stood up, brushing the dust off his pants with his hands.

"No," he said, "I have nothing to tell you. I have some things to do now, so I'll leave you alone for a moment. Don't try anything stupid."

He turned his back to them without waiting for an answer and walked away. The abandoned warehouse was large and dark, so they quickly lost sight of the blonde officer, but they did hear the sound of the door opening and closing behind him. Lucy turned her head to look at the commander with very unimpressed eyes.

"'We go down, we find the guys with the guns, we take the guns and we kick their asses,'" she quoted. "That really was a brilliant idea."

The commander smirked at her and did something Lucy assumed was a shrug, but it wasn't easy to say with his arms tightly tied around that pillar.

"You didn't stop me from trying," he countered. "Admit it, you wanted to do it too."

Lucy tried her best, but couldn't hold back the amused smile that quickly stretched her lips.

"I was just obeying my officer," she retorted. "This is entirely your fault."

Far from looking guilty, Natsu smiled and his eyes started to search the room for God knew what.

"Says the one who disobeyed when I told everyone to go back to the main building," he snickered.

"You did? How strange, I didn't hear you..."

The commander's smirk widened and he started to squirm energetically. Lucy frowned and looked around to make sure that no one was here.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

The commander continued to do whatever he was doing for a few more seconds before raising his eyes to look at her with a victorious look. A second later, he brought both arms in front of him and jumped back to his feet.

"You thought I was going to sit here forever?" he bragged. "I'm getting out of here."

Lucy ignored his bragging since he was her best hope of leaving the building at the moment.

"Awesome!" she agreed. "I think the van's still outside, we can take it and go back to..."

"We?" Natsu interrupted. "I don't know if I'll take you with me considering your earlier mean words. I'm hurt, you know? I don't think you deserve my help."

Lucy arched a brow and sent him a very cocky smile, not the kind of smile someone in her position was supposed to display.

"And you'll have to explain to Erza why you left me behind and ran away," she reminded him. "I'd much rather be in my shoes than yours in that case."

The commander laughed out loud and Lucy was worried the noise would alert someone, but no one came. He crouched in front of her and untied her wrists in a few seconds.

"You're right," he agreed. "I'll allow you to come, then. I hope you're aware of your luck."

"Yes, yes," Lucy sang.

They both stood up and quickly walked toward the same door Laxus had used to leave a few minutes earlier, trying to be as silent as humanly possible.

* * *

 _...LOKE..._

* * *

Loke was officially scared of Levy. This small, discreet girl had forced the lock of the lieutenant-colonel's office door and was using his computer – the password having been a mere formality – to hack into the police's computer system. She was currently using their software to find the van that Luc – or whatever her real name was – had tried to neutralize. Gajeel was leaning on the desk beside her, he smirked when he noticed Loke's impressed look. It took her twelve minutes to succeed. All the while, Gray guarded the door.

"They're in the abandoned Industrial Zone of the Northern Suburbs," she said. "In a back alley behind the old Aeronautical construction warehouse."

"Are you sure?"

She arched a cocky brow at Loke and smirked.

"I'm pretty skilled when it comes to this kind of things," she assured. "I know they're here."

"Guys, hurry up," Gray said, "some guys are gathering somewhere near, I can hear them."

Loke nodded and stood back up.

"Alright, let's go."

"Wait," Levy called, sounding a bit confused. "The van moved."

She drummed her fingers on the keyboard and squinted her eyes at the screen.

"Maybe they took the van and escaped without our help," Gajeel suggested, "I told you they were tough."

"I don' think so," Levy countered. "The van has been abandoned in a lake..."

"Guys," Gray called again, "the noises are growing louder."

"So what?" Gajeel ignored his friend guarding the door. "Knowing them, they fought while driving and ended up leaving the road..."

"Gajeel," Levy called sternly, "if they're in the van now, and it's very possible that they are, they're drowning."

Loke cursed and turned around to run out of the room.

"Where are you going?" Gray asked, sounding weary.

"Do you even have to ask?" the redhead growled. "I'm going there."

Gray sighed and Gajeel glared at him.

"Why? To save them? We need about half an hour to get there. We won't make it in time."

Loke threw his hands in the air in exasperation and pointed at the screen.

"What am I supposed to do then!?" he roared. "I can't stay here doing nothing while she might be drowning!"

Gajeel frowned.

"She?" he repeated.

Loke realized his mistake, but was luckily in a state of agitation that kind of justified such a mistake.

"Are you seriously correcting my grammar now?"

"He's right," Gray agreed. "We have to do something right now."

Gajeel crossed his arms over his chest and smirked at them.

"And if you'd just let me talk," he sang, "then I could tell you about my skills as a helicopter pilot and about how the Academy has a helicopter on the roof of the main building."

Loke and Gray stared at him with wide eyes, not daring to ask, but having clearly understood what their friend meant. Levy smirked as well, as if her boyfriend's skills were some kind of big secret she knew all along. Which they were.

"We'll be there in five minutes if you move your asses."

* * *

... _LUCY..._

* * *

The van wasn't there anymore. They searched the whole Zone and found no vehicle in working order. Lucy glared at her commander and he raised both hands in front of him in defense.

"It's not my fault that they took the van," he claimed.

The recruit sighed, it wouldn't help them to regret the decisions they took to get where they were. While she was searching the dark alley for something that could help them in any way, Lucy felt a cold drop of water land on the tip of her nose. She lifted her head to look at the cloudy sky as another drop landed under her right eye.

"There," Natsu suddenly said.

Lucy's eyes fell back on him to see him pointing at something behind her. She turned around and squinted her eyes to distinguish something despite the darkness. She gulped when she recognized the dark thing that was laid against the wall.

"It looks very old," she noted, "it might be dangerous. Can you even drive that?"

She heard the man's snickers and glared at him when she understood that he was making fun of her.

"If I didn't know you any better, I'd say that you're scared," he smirked.

Lucy smirked back and crossed her arms above her chest.

"I just don't trust you to keep us safe on such a machine," she retorted. "I'd rather be the one to drive."

The commander cocked an eyebrow at her and pointed back at the large motorcycle.

"You can drive this?" he asked, sounding very dubious.

"Probably much better than you," she confirmed.

He snorted and started walking toward the bike.

"No way," he protested, "I'm the commander, I drive."

"Are we really going to argue about this now?" she sighed, running after him.

He snorted again and glanced at her over his shoulder.

"No," he said, "because I said I'd drive and you have to obey your officer."

"That's tyranny," Lucy accused.

"Absolutely," he confirmed. "Now, be quiet and come here."

She pouted as she straddled the bike behind the commander and put her hands on his shoulders. She felt them shake lightly when he laughed.

"Don't be shy," he snickered and grabbed her arms to wrap them around his waist. "We don't want you falling off the bike on the way, do we?"

Lucy shook her head, but didn't speak, afraid that he would hear her embarrassment in her voice. Natsu smirked with renewed vigour and started the engine.

"Good," he said, "now, hold on tight."

She did as she was told – not to unwillingly, she had to admit – and glanced at the door to make sure that no one was coming after them. She frowned when the door remained close. It was so weird... Laxus knew just how dangerous Natsu was, he had to know that mere chains wouldn't be enough to hold him prisoner. But he still left them alone, with no guards around, as if begging them to escape.

"Where are we going?" she asked when the bike started to move.

The commander shrugged.

"Away," he answered. "Something's wrong with this setup and I don't want to stay to figure it out."

So, he had noticed it too.

"Are we going back to the Academy?"

The sound of her voice was starting to get lost in the wind furiously howling around them with the speed of the motorcycle. She was worried that he wouldn't hear her, but the commander shook his head as he took a turn to the left and emerged in a broader street.

"No," he shouted for her to hear him, "it might be a trap. We're going to make sure we lose them in the city before going back."

The rain started to fall much harder and the commander had no choice but to slow down, which annoyed him greatly if the contraction of his muscles was anything to go by. They quickly left the Industrial Zone and Lucy was greatly bothered by their lack of pursuers. Everything was going way too easily. Natsu quickly got annoyed by the slowness of their progression and rolled over a puddle when he sped up. The motorcycle skidded on the wet concrete and Lucy tightened her hold on his waist when she saw the ground approach a bit too quickly. Fortunately, Natsu managed to control the vehicle and even seemed to be having fun since he didn't slow down after that. She felt the muscles in his back relax and allowed herself to ease up as well. It was still raining heavily and it was much darker around them now that they were out of the Zone since they were no street lights anymore.

"We're nearing the Expressway," she heard Natsu yell over his shoulder, "we'll be at the Academy soon!"

She nodded against his back, her arms still tightly wrapped around him. Suddenly, the motorbike hit a pothole, resulting in Lucy's forehead bumping into the back of Natsu's head and her chest firmly crashing into his back.

"Sorry," he mumbled, "I hadn't seen it..."

She pushed herself off his back as soon as the bike was steady again, praying that he hadn't noticed the strange bumps on her chest that definitely were not supposed to be here.

"It's fine..."

She lifted her eyes when she noticed that the motorcycle had stopped moving once again and frowned. Something was obstructing the road where they were supposed to reach the Expressway. Suddenly, Lucy felt all of Natsu's muscles contract and she squealed – in a very unmanly way – when the commander made the bike spin around, making the motor roar.

"Hold on tight," he ordered Lucy, "we're going to escape very quickly."

Lucy didn't even hesitate, what good would protecting her secret do her if she wasn't alive to save her father? She pressed herself completely against his back and closed her eyes when the motorcycle front wheel rose in the air, trying to stay immobile. The commander drove very fast and ignored every safety rule Lucy had ever heard of. She didn't know who they were escaping from, she still couldn't see anyone after them. That's when she heard the bang. Deafening, percussive, awfully familiar. The commander dangerously tilted the bike to turn left without slowing down too much and sped up even more when they were back to a relatively normal position. Lucy heard a loud crack somewhere behind them and there suddenly was bright light everywhere around them. She turned her head to glance over her shoulder.

"Fuck," she cursed.

So this was why they had no problem getting out of the warehouse... A huge, black all-terrain car was chasing them. It hit a garbage dumpster with great force and turned left right after them, making the motor roar furiously in its attempt to catch up with them. The commander accelerated as well and Lucy didn't care about the wet concrete anymore, they needed to lose them right away. The driver of the large car honked with great enthusiasm when Natsu abruptly turned right to enter a very narrow alley, so narrow that Lucy's knees scraped the wall. They exited the alley in less than ten seconds and the commander drove even faster so they could reach the main road that would lead them to the High Bridge. This was the fastest way to go back to the Academy, Lucy assumed the commander decided that it was too dangerous to try and lose their pursuers in the town.

A few seconds after they exited the alley, Lucy heard another loud bang. But this time, the bullet hit the target. The blonde recruit yelled in pain and buried her face in the commander's nape to keep herself from letting go of his waist and nursing her injured arm. She felt the muscles of the commander move while he was trying to see what happened and tightened her grip on his shirt to make him understand she wanted him to focus on driving. The motorcycle sped up even more and Lucy felt as if they were floating. When the pain receded, she glanced at the injured spot on her arm and frowned at the small dart that was planted there. She hadn't really been shot, it was just a training dart. They had some at the Academy and used them to get used to the pain of being shot without actually suffering any damage. She ripped it off and put it in the pocket of her jacket.

The following second, the black car hit the back wheel. The roads being soaking wet, the motorcycle staggered dangerously and skidded until it fell brutally and ejected its occupants. Lucy hissed when she felt her knees and elbows scrape against the concrete. Fortunately, and despite their important speed, her head wasn't hit and she managed to stand back up. She looked up and saw the High Bridge, they were so fucking close! The commander was still kneeling, a hand on his forehead and trying to keep his balance. He had probably hit his head while falling. Lucy didn't even hesitate before running toward him. She kneeled beside him and tried to move his hand away to check his wounds, but he didn't let her.

"Go hide," he ordered her, "the headlights are facing the other way, you still have time. Go hide before they turn around."

Lucy glanced over her shoulder and saw that they indeed had enough time to hide.

"Yes," she agreed.

She wrapped his arm around her shoulders and tried to push him up, but he stopped her once again. She squinted her eyes at him and he shook his head.

"Go hide without me," he said, "I'll distract them."

She obviously refused and was about to argue when they heard the car turn around and Natsu pushed her down the grassy slope that led to the river under the High Bridge.

* * *

 _...GRAY..._

* * *

Why in the world had he agreed to do this? Gray sighed as he heard his friends curse and punch on the metal door of the helicopter. Gajeel said he could pilot the thing, but he couldn't even open it! Beside him, Cana snickered and he glared at her.

"What was the point of asking me to steal the key to the rooftop if you guys can't leave it anyway..."

"Why are you asking me?" Gray retorted. "There are so many weak points to this plan, I don't even know where to start."

"It will be funnier this way," Loke grinned, walking with them with his hands in his pockets.

Gray frowned and tilted his head to see what was happening near the helicopter. Gajeel was already inside.

"He finally opened it," Gray snorted, "better late than never."

Loke laughed and shook his head.

"Levy opened it," he corrected. "We're probably going to die before reaching the right place."

"That's reassuring..."

The door behind them was slammed shut and they flinched, turning around to stare at a silhouette hidden in darkness. They couldn't see who the person was and the rain wasn't helping either. Gray squinted his eyes at the newcomer and gulped when he recognized them. Loke, Levy and Cana all froze as well.

"I was wondering why you all left," he sang, "but it turned out you were already on the move."

A flash of lightning illuminated their surroundings and they all recognized the man without a doubt. He was smiling at them, hands in his pockets.

"You are pretty sharp," he admitted, "but you're really slow. You should have left when you had the time to do so."

Cana crossed her arms over her chest and took a few steps forward to go stand in front of the man. She glared at him when he smiled at her.

"What the hell are you doing here?"

Gildarts grinned and patted her head affectionately.

"What?" he laughed. "Can't a father stop his daughter from getting involved in troublesome matters?"

His face suddenly became very serious and he stared at each of them, one after the other.

"Sorry guys, but we're not done with Natsu yet, you're not leaving this place."

Gajeel was still inside the helicopter, but Gray was sure he could see his hands moving behind his back: _don't move, stay there_. Something told him that Gildarts wasn't only stopping them because they were leaving without permission.

"We know where they are," he said, "we're going to fetch them."

Gildarts shook his head, smiling apologetically.

"No, you're not."

He shrugged his coat off, not minding the heavily pouring rain in the slightest, and stretched his arms.

"You're going back inside to wait in your rooms," he explained, "even if I have to force you back inside."

Gray glanced at Loke, he looked furious, and at Levy. The petite girl looked horrified. Cana didn't look too confident either.

"Stop joking, old man," she scolded him, sounding wary, "we don't have the time..."

"I won't say it a third time," Gildarts interrupted her, "get back inside."

His face was hard and cold. Gray believed him when he said he would force them back inside if he had to. He sighed and turned around to face Loke. He pointed three fingers at Loke and nodded while pointing his thumb at himself before clenching his fist: _You leave with three [persons], I stay and play bait_. He knew Loke would be the only one to understand this since the code had been invented by Luc. Loke glared at him and shook his head furiously. Gray's jaw contracted. They didn't have time to argue about this. Loke knew just how strong he was, he had seen him fight for real when they were out of the Academy for the weekend. He obviously wasn't strong enough to defeat Gildarts, but he would hold him back. If it was to get his friends back, he was fine with having a few bones broken.

"Hey, hey," a deep voice suddenly sang right beside his ear, "don't turn your back on your opponent..."

Gray recognized Gildarts' voice before he even got to turn around and started to panic, expecting a blow for good measure, but it never came. The large body of the officer stopped moving completely and Gray saw a thin flash of silver against his neck.

"I could say the same thing to you, lieutenant-colonel."

Gray's eyes widened when he recognized the voice of the knife holder. Her blue hair flying madly around her face because of the strong wind, her deep blue eyes sending daggers at the officer, her arm calm and steady despite the rain and the blade that was starting to open a slight cut in the skin. The young man smirked, feeling kind of proud, for some reason.

"Juvia won't let you harm him," she declared.

* * *

... _LAXUS..._

* * *

Laxus sighed when he came back to the warehouse and found it empty. He checked his watch, they had escaped in less than ten minutes. The real thing was starting now. The fact that the recruit was there too slightly changed their plans, but it didn't matter. He took his phone out of his pocket and called Jellal.

"Yes?"

"They got out," he grumbled.

"… Already? Fine... I'm on my way, check the area in the mean time."

"No need," Laxus retorted, "they're already far from here."

"How do you know?"

"It's Natsu we're talking about. He's already far away."

Laxus heard his interlocutor sigh and nervously pace.

"Take the car," Jellal said. "Tell me when you found them."

Laxus sighed, failing to see why they were keeping this on, it obviously was pointless.

"Man, I think we can stop now," he said, "he was more than competent..."

"The contract says that we have to stop him from going back," Jellal reminded him, "we have to chase him."

"Such a pain..."

The blonde man heard his interlocutor snicker in agreement and Laxus promised to let him know when he found them before hanging up.

The car was parked in a small garage in the back of the warehouse. It was a large all-terrain vehicle that would definitely be very useful if he wanted to catch up with the crazy commander. He found the woman that was working with Jellal as his sniper near the garage and motioned for her to move.

"You," he said, "come with me."

She glared at him and crossed her arms over her chest.

"My name's not ''you''," she retorted. "Call me by name properly if you don't want me to throw my dagger at your thick skull. And don't order me around, I don't work for you."

Laxus gritted his teeth, trying his best not to piss her off too much.

"Fine," he spat, "stay here and I'll tell Jellal that you refused to come with me when I left to chase our target."

She snickered.

"You're useless to the point that you need me to catch one man?"

"There's a sniper with him," he growled.

The woman lifted an eyebrow, she was finally getting interested in what he was saying. He sighed and clenched his fists. He couldn't believe he was actually going to say this...

"Please, Bisca, come with me."

The green haired woman smirked and grabbed her rifle.

"Sure."

* * *

 _...LUCY..._

* * *

Lucy hit her head on a rock when falling down the slope and cursed when she checked her forehead with her fingers: she was bleeding. She luckily managed to stand up without much difficulty and climbed the slope back up. She stayed near the bridge to stay hidden in the shadows and crawled when she reached the top of the slope, trying to be invisible. It was still raining heavily and the area wasn't efficiently illuminated so it was hard to see, but Lucy did manage to find the commander. And her eyes widened considerably when she did. A woman with long, green hair was lying on the grass near her, unconscious. There was a handgun near her hand. Natsu was panting heavily, barely standing, beaten up. The lieutenant was facing him, a gun pointed toward his head.

"Jellal was right," she heard Laxus say, "we were right to chase after you."

The commander growled lowly. He looked like a half dead wolf.

"What did you do to me?" he groaned.

Laxus shrugged and pointed at the unconscious woman.

"She shot you a Neutralizing Dart before you knocked her out," he explained. "I'm amazed that you're still standing. Now, it's time to end the game."

He lifted his arm to point the gun at the commander's head once more when Lucy ran out of her hiding spot and grabbed the handgun. Laxus turned around abruptly when he saw her, but she was already pointing her gun at him.

"Put that down, recruit," he ordered. "If you shoot, I shoot too. And believe me, you'll die for sure."

Lucy glanced at the commander, he looked tired, but not defeated. He was shaking his head at her, not willing to risk her life to save his. She snorted and shook her head.

"I won't live long anyway."

She shot. A red flag came out of the gun.

"What the..."

Another car came to park beside Laxus' and Jellal got out, walking toward them with his hands in his pockets, not bothering to try and look surprised.

"Ah, I see that the test is over," he smiled. "Good job, everyone! Why is Bisca sleeping?"

 **oOo**

A helicopter soon arrived on the scene and everyone watched, dumbfounded, as Levy ran out of it and jumped into the blonde recruit's arms, crying. Following her, Loke, Gray and Gajeel glared at Laxus and Jellal. Lucy had to admit that everything that happened after that was quite fuzzy. Makarov called them and ordered everyone to come back to the Academy, where they headed straight for his office. There, they were explained that the kidnapping was only a test for Natsu and his recruits. The commander was supposed to show them that he was still competent enough to be part of the Elite Squad while the recruits were to obey the other officers' orders without panicking. Lucy listened to the general's explanation. He had answers for each of their questions. Jellal and Bisca were independent agents, hired for the occasion, Laxus and Gildarts had been asked to cooperate, everything had been part of the test. And yet, she didn't believe a word he said. The real purpose of this test was being kept secret, she was sure of it.

"Though," the general laughed, "I have to admit that I hadn't expected one of the recruits to be taken along with Natsu! Why did you do such a thing, child?"

Lucy shrugged and averted her eyes. She had an idea about the reason of her reckless actions when it came to the commander, but it was stupid so she ignored it.

"Well," the general went on, "someone did something even more unexpected. Right, mister Fullbuster?"

Lucy glanced at her friend. He was blushing and staring at the wooden floor.

"Miss Lockser threatened to slice the lieutenant-colonel's throat if he tried to hurt him," Loke explained her.

"Wow..."

Gray glared at them when they started to laugh and Makarov kicked them all out. The officers stayed in the office to talk a bit more about the test and in the corridor, the recruits continued to tease Gray.

"She's really crazy about you," Lucy laughed.

"Says the one who shot an officer to save the commander," he retorted. "And he even warned you that he'd kill you if you shot."

"But he didn't," she noted.

Gray stopped walking and stared at her intently. He was dead serious.

"You didn't know that this was all a test, did you? You shot, knowing that you'd probably die. Don't ever do that again, got it?"

Lucy stared at him with wide eyes, since when was he the kind of guy to openly express his feelings? The door of the office opened once again and Lucy forgot to answer Gray when she saw the commander walk out. He found her right away and briefly glanced at her friends before focusing back on her. For a moment, she thought he was going to talk to her, but he just nodded at her and ruffled her hair when he walked past her. Loke smirked at her and she glared at him.

"What?"

"Nothing," he laughed, "you did shoot an officer, risking your life, to save him. I guess it's normal that he'd be grateful."

"Nah, dude," Gray protested, "Natsu never shows affection to anybody, not even to girls. What did you do to him?"

Lucy then remembered that Gray was with Natsu when they went to the club and almost asked him why he was close enough to the commander to hang out with him, but managed to shut up. She wasn't supposed to know about Gray being there with Natsu.

"Yeah," Loke agreed, "your cousin is acting weird lately."

Lucy froze. What?

"His cousin?" she repeated.

Gray glared at Loke and the latter suddenly shut his mouth, not looking amused anymore. Gray sighed and shook his head.

"It's a bit complicated," he said, "I'll explain later. Juvia asked me to meet her and I'm already late..."

"You think that's a..."

"Luc," Loke interrupted her. "He's busy, let him go. And we have to talk, too."

Lucy hesitated, but still nodded at Gray. He promised to eat with them and left, almost running. Lucy watched him leave and would have smiled had the circumstances been different. But Loke was looking at her with his hard gaze and she knew he was expecting her to tell him everything. She followed him in silence and they sat on her bed after making sure that no one could hear them.

"My name," she started, "is Lucy Heartfilia, daughter of the traitor, Jude Heartfilia."

Loke listened to her with impassive eyes even as she told him that her father had been imprisoned for a false accusation.

"Even I don't know the real reason of his imprisonment," she admitted, "I was only five years old when it happened. But I know that what happened the night they came to arrest him wasn't normal. I did some research and I found that my father was being kept in the Pandemonium."

Loke frowned.

"Seriously? I thought it was a myth..."

The Pandemonium was a secret prison where political opposants were being held and tortured. Until the day they died.

"It's not," Lucy assured. "And I'm going to infiltrate it and get him out."

Loke froze and stared at her as if she had grown a second head.

"Do you even have a start of a plan to get there without being killed?" he asked. "And that's only one of the million questions I have."

Lucy smirked.

"The only jail guards allowed to work in the Pandemonium are all members of an Elite Squad."

"That's why you absolutely want to join the Squad? That's far too dangerous, I'm amazed that you're still alive. You have to leave the Academy and run away from this country."

Lucy's smile softened and she moved closer to Loke, who looked more distressed than ever. She took his hand and squeezed it gently.

"He's my only family," she explained. "They took everything and everyone else away from me. He's my only reason to keep living."

"Your only reason..."

Lucy recognized the hurt in his eyes and it pained her to know that she was the source of it, but she didn't want to lie anymore. Though, she had to admit that, lately, she was starting to think that living with those guys, Loke and the others, wasn't all that bad.

"How did you know that I'm actually a girl?"

Her friend smirked and pointed to the door.

"I was right outside when you spoke with Erza on the first night," he admitted. "I eavesdropped."

So, he knew from the beginning and played dumb the whole time?

"Why did you play along?"

He shrugged and smiled playfully.

"I was hoping to catch you naked in the bathroom some day!"

* * *

 **End of chapter 10**

Sorry for the long wait, but I'm finally back! Also, next chapter will be better than this one, I'm already onto it!

Once again, thank you very much to everyone who favorited/followed the story and sent reviews, you guys are awesome!

I have to warn you that I most probably won't be able to post anything until the 20th of July, because of work, sorry about that. But I will definitely come back with an awesome chapter, I promise!

Note: Don't forget that this is a fiction, I invented everything for the sake of my story.

See you soon!

* * *

 **Preview**

 _''Hello Little Bird_

 _I've been thinking of what to say to you for the last few weeks, ever since I found you. I'm actually quite moved, you see? I've been looking for you for years, Little Bird. I missed you greatly. I'm pleased to see that you look a lot like your mother, a true beauty. Your father would be so proud to see what you've become, that's if he was by your side. And if he still had his eyes._

 _Don't worry, Little Bird, I didn't tell the others that I found you. I'll come to you personally very soon. Look forward to it._

 _Yours, truly._

 _K''_


	11. Chapter 11: Coming Storm

**PART I – Resolution**

Chapter XI – Coming Storm

* * *

" _I'm here. I love you. I don't care if you need to stay up crying all night long, I will stay with you. If you need the medication again, go ahead and take it—I will love you through that, as well. If you don't need the medication, I will love you, too. There's nothing you can ever do to lose my love. I will protect you until you die, and after your death I will still protect you. I am stronger than Depression and I am braver than Loneliness and nothing will ever exhaust me."  
― Elizabeth Gilbert, Eat, Pray, Love_

* * *

Prevously on Dauntless:

The commander growled lowly. He looked like a half dead wolf.

"What did you do to me?" he groaned.

Laxus shrugged and pointed at the unconscious woman.

"She shot you a Neutralizing Dart before you knocked her out," he explained. "I'm amazed that you're still standing. Now, it's time to end the game."

He lifted his arm to point the gun at the commander's head once more when Lucy ran out of her hiding spot and grabbed the handgun. Laxus turned around abruptly when he saw her, but she was already pointing her gun at him.

"Put that down, recruit," he ordered. "If you shoot, I shoot too. And believe me, you'll die for sure."

Lucy glanced at the commander, he looked tired, but not defeated. He was shaking his head at her, not willing to risk her life to save his. She snorted and shook her head.

"I won't live long anyway."

She shot. A red flag came out of the gun.

 **oOo**

"My name," she started, "is Lucy Heartfilia, daughter of the traitor, Jude Heartfilia."

Loke listened to her with impassive eyes even as she told him that her father had been imprisoned for a false accusation.

"Even I don't know the real reason of his imprisonment," she admitted, "I was only five years old when it happened. But I know that what happened the night they came to arrest him wasn't normal. I did some research and I found that my father was being kept in the Pandemonium."

Loke frowned.

"Seriously? I thought it was a myth..."

The Pandemonium was a secret prison where political opposants were being held and tortured. Until the day they died.

"It's not," Lucy assured. "And I'm going to infiltrate it and get him out."

* * *

 _Lucy watched with wide eyes the scene that was unfolding downstairs. Her father was running from a room to another with large bags in his hands, her mother following him everywhere._

 _"Are you sure that they're coming?"_

 _Jude nodded, still gathering things Lucy couldn't see in every room of the house._

 _"The old Yajima called me to warn me," he said. "I trust him."_

 _Layla sighed and started to help Jude search for whatever he was looking for._

 _"I can't believe it," she said, "how did they hear about them?"_

 _Lucy's father shrugged._

 _"A mole," he spat, "it's the only possibility."_

 _"My God..."_

 _A small hand suddenly gripped Lucy's shoulder and she turned around to see Michelle and the boys. Michelle lifted a finger in front of her mouth to encourage Lucy to keep quiet. The three children kneeled beside her to listen on the adults' conversation._

 _"Where will they go?" Layla asked, sounding very worried._

 _Jude shrugged his long leather coat on and grabbed his wife's hands._

 _"His natural father came back," he said, "he will take care of them. He's also the one in charge of Ur's daughter since her mother's death."_

 _"Silver came back? But I thought he was..."_

 _"I know," Jude interrupted her. "We'll talk about it later, I need to go meet him so we can prepare the boys' departure."_

 _Lucy frowned, ''deep orture''? What was that? She felt Michelle's hand tighten on her shoulder and sent her a curious glance. Jude sighed and his hands went to rest on Layla's cheeks._

 _"This is getting dangerous for us too, my love," he deplored. "I'll make preparations for you and the girls, I want you to leave the country."_

 _"You mean us, right? We're going to leave the country together, right?"_

 _Jude never answered her question. He kissed her forehead and lips before leaving. The next morning, Layla Heartfilia got into a car accident and died._

* * *

Lucy opened her eyes when she heard knocks on the door. It was Loke again, he wanted to know if she needed anything. She rolled her eyes and smiled, tilting her head back to let the water run through her hair and down her skin.

"No, Loke," she said, "I don't need anything. I'm not feeling sick or weak either, so don't try to open the door."

She heard him laugh wholeheartedly at her answer and tell her that he was leaving first. Now that Loke knew about her secret she didn't need to get up at three o'clock anymore and earned more than two hours of sleep. It took her ten more minutes in the shower before she got out and started to search for her towel. She finally found it on the sink and quickly wiped her hair relatively dry. The bandage was still a pain to put on, but it was faster to do it by now. She heard a noise on the other side of the door and froze after shrugging her shirt on.

"Loke?" she called.

No answer came. She quickly put her trousers on and opened the door. There was no one in the bedroom. Lucy walked to the door and checked the corridor. There were a few recruits out there, but none of them seemed to be in a hurry or acting suspiciously. Maybe she had imagined the noise. She went back inside the bedroom to get her military jacket and frowned when she noticed the envelope on her bed. It wasn't hers. Had Loke left it there for her? Lucy felt her stomach contract when a thought came to her: it couldn't be a love letter from her roommate, could it? She walked to the bed and picked the envelope. " _Please, don't let it be a love letter from Loke_ ," she mentally prayed while opening it. The piece of paper was small, the words written with black ink. It wasn't a love letter.

 _''Hello Little Bird_

 _I've been thinking of what to say to you for the last few weeks, ever since I found you. I'm actually quite moved, you see? I've been looking for you for years, Little Bird. I missed you greatly. I'm pleased to see that you look a lot like your mother, a true beauty. Your father would be so proud to see what you've become, that's if he was by your side. And if he still had his eyes._

 _Don't worry, Little Bird, I didn't tell the others that I found you. I'll come to you personally very soon. Look forward to it._

 _Yours, truly._

 _K''_

Lucy dropped the letter and was out of the room before it touched the floor. She ran along the corridor, but found no one in the stairs. She watched out of one of the windows, desperately trying to find the slender silhouette of the letter's author. She gritted her teeth, furious at herself. What had she done wrong? Was the distant relative cover too obvious? She should have chosen another last name. But the Heartfilia family was huge, with a lot of branches, and the Academy was known for investigating its students' past. It was easier to use the name of a scattered family that had been destroyed years ago than create a whole new identity. Lucy didn't go to the refectory that morning. She went straight to class and didn't talk to anybody. Her friends obviously realized that something was wrong and Loke tried to attract her attention as many times as he could, but she kept on ignoring him and everybody else, including the teachers. When lunch time came, she saw Loke and her friends jump to their feet and turn toward her. She ignored them and walked out of the classroom before they could catch her.

"Luc..."

Gray never got to say whatever it was he had to say for someone else caught her full attention at the same moment. A large hand gripped her shoulder and she was forced to turn around and meet the cold gaze of the commander. He let go of her shoulder only to grab her wrist.

"Come with me," he ordered, already dragging her out in the corridor.

She was so surprised that she let him do. It wasn't usual for the commander to act so mysteriously with a recruit. He opened the door of an archives office and pushed her inside before closing the door behind them. He sighed and pointed to a small chair, encouraging her to sit down.

"Is something wrong, commander?" she asked, trying not to sound too worried.

He didn't answer her immediately, only observing her with a strange look. His hand dug in the right pocket of his trousers and pulled out a white envelope that had been torn open. She froze.

"This was left in my bedroom this morning," he explained. "The content is menacing. Do you have any idea who could have left this there?"

Lucy gulped. This couldn't be a coincidence. She just received her own letter and now the commander got one too? This had to be the same person. But why would they give a letter to the commander? He had absolutely nothing to do with this. She slowly shook her head.

"Well, I'm not sure why you think I could know about this," she answered. "But I don't, sorry."

He snickered and averted his eyes, shaking his head.

"You don't," he repeated. "That's funny, cause I'm pretty sure you're the one this letter mentions."

Lucy frowned, getting more and more worried with each passing second. What was written in the commander's letter exactly?

"Listen," the latter went on, "I know you mean no harm to me, I saw how you didn't even hesitate to shoot Laxus to save me. I'm not mad at you, I'm just trying to understand."

And so Lucy was. She had no idea what he was talking about. She shook her head once more.

"Sorry... maybe if I could read it..."

She extended a hand, but Natsu immediately shoved his letter back in his pocket.

"No need," he assured. "It's fine if you don't know. Sorry for wasting your time."

He left before she had a chance to formulate a coherent sentence. She frowned and her brain played the scene in her head once more. Natsu was restless. Well, he's always looked tense and energetic, but he was acting a bit weird lately. As if he was constantly on his guard. So, before lunch time ended, she ran straight to Mira's office and entered without knocking. And immediately regretted it. For the colonel was a bit busy with the lieutenant at the moment.

"Oh..." Lucy stuttered and blushed, "sorry. I'll come back later. Sorry. I didn't see anything..."

The door was already closed by the time she finished her sentence and she could hear Mira's laugh and Laxus' attempts to get her to keep quiet through it. Well, this was really embarrassing. She half sighed, half laughed and left, hoping to get some fresh air before afternoon classes started. She didn't want to see Loke and the others yet, so she went to the back of the main building and walked until she reached the old oak. Well, she was supposed to walk toward the old oak and take a quick nap, but was unable to do so for she felt the weight of someone jumping on her back and fell forward. Cana laughed.

"You actually fell," she mocked, "you're so weak! The other guys don't fall this easily!"

"Maybe you've gained wei... Ouch!"

Cana ignored her accusatory glare and jumped back to her feet, acting as if nothing had happened.

"Stop lazing around and come with me," she said, suddenly looking very serious, "we need to talk."

 _"Right_ ," Lucy thought, " _she knows._ _Time for a talk, huh_." They sat under the oak and Lucy immediately warned Cana that she couldn't tell her the whole truth.

"I'm in a dangerous situation," she explained, "for both my security and yours, I can't tell you much about my reasons for being here."

She told her that she was trying to save someone, but didn't tell her his name, she didn't talk about the Pandemonium either. She explained her that joining the Elite Squad was crucial for her and confessed that her life would be in danger if she were to be found out.

"I get the feeling that you're still keeping a lot of things from me," Cana said, "and it's a bit frustrating, but I understand how you feel."

She got back up and brushed the dust off her butt. She sighed and gazed at the grassy fields around the Academy. The sky was clear blue, the wind gentle.

"My father is a higher officer," she thought out loud, "he never says anything about, you know, those old farts at the top of the army. He could be implicated and I wouldn't even know."

She smiled sadly.

"I'm not naive, I know that they do things that would appal us. And he's not a very good father, she sighed, but I was sure that he was a good person. He wasn't around much when I was a kid, so I don't know him that well. I want to know. I don't want to doubt him. Can you imagine how it feels? To spend your life hoping that you're right to trust your father..."

She could. It was amazing how similar their situations were, if you leave out the fact that Cana's father wasn't imprisoned. Well, at least not physically. Lucy sighed when Cana left. One more person knew. This was getting more and more dangerous. The afternoon classes were boring as hell, all the teachers could do was talk about strategies for the Game.

"Since tomorrow is a big day, I'll let you go sooner," Bob cheered.

Lucy didn't know how she felt about it. In less than twenty-four hours, the Game would start and she knew she had to stand out if she wanted to join the Elite Squad. But was she ready? Shouldn't she train more? Each step toward the Elite Squad was a step toward the powerful monsters that ordered the raid on her mansion all these years ago. Was she ready to face them? She knew the answers to those questions: she wasn't ready. She was scared, unprepared and vulnerable. The author of the letter signed it with a simple '' _K_ ''. Lucy knew who it was. What that person '' _speciality''_ was. And she was terrified.

'' _Your father would be so proud to see what you've become, that's if he was by your side. And if he still had his eyes.''_

Was it already too late? Why write a letter when she could have taken her by force at any time? And why send one to the commander? Argh, too many questions! She walked toward the lockers to get her books back and heard a loud crash on her left. She frowned and closed the door of her locker to see what was happening. A group of three second years was laughing, waving at a first year that had been pushed against his locker.

"Sorry, sorry," the tallest second year sang, "I forgot how _delicate_ you were."

She recognized the first year, it was Sting's brother, Rogue. He was a quiet boy, didn't talk to much people, not the kind to attract trouble. So what was that about? She was about to go and ask for explanations when she heard someone call for her. She turned around and saw the colonel walk toward her with a sweet smile on her face.

"Do you have a minute?"

 **oOo**

In Mira's office, Lucy immediately noticed the red box that very obviously contained a jewel and smirked. This had to be from Laxus.

"So," Mira sang. "How are you feeling? Tomorrow's the big day, right?"

Lucy nodded and smiled playfully.

"I'm good," she assured.

She knew very well that the real reason for this talk wasn't the Game, but it was funny, so she let the colonel try to be subtle about what she really wanted to say.

"Really? That's good," Mira smiled, "very good. And, is everything alright with your friends? You looked distant today, they're a bit worried."

"I'm fine," Lucy lied, "I just had a stomach ache, but I'm better now."

"Is that so? That's good, then."

She shifted awkwardly, her smile still there, but hesitant. Lucy smiled too.

"Did you need something from me, Mira?"

The beautiful woman hesitated, but ended up sighing and laughing.

"You knew why I wanted to talk with you, of course..."

"I had some doubts, yes."

The colonel sat right next to Lucy and gently took her hands in hers.

"I've known Laxus for years and I've always known that he was the distant type. He's cold, secretive, not your typical prince charming."

Lucy kept quiet and listened attentively, it was the first time Mira wanted to talk about something so intimate with her.

"I fell in love quickly, but I never told him because I knew he'd take his distances if I did. But he started to change a few weeks ago, he was wary of everything, edgy and even more distant than usual. I ended up going to his room one evening to ask him what was wrong. He didn't tell me exactly, but it seems that he was worried about something concerning the army staff. We talked for a few hours that night and he kissed me. You can guess what happened next, and every day after that."

Lucy arched a brow.

"Did you just want to show off because you got yourself a man?"

Mira laughed and shook her head.

"Absolutely, why else? Joke aside, we'd both like to keep our relationship a secret for several personal reasons, will you keep what you saw a secret, please?"

"No problem, I swear I'll die before talking, colonel!"

"Alright," Mira laughed, "you may go, recruit! Your commander is waiting for you in the backyard for some evening training."

Lucy sighed.

"Seriously? The Game is tomorrow, why won't he let us rest...

"Good luck!"

 _\- Two hours later -_

"I'll sue you," Lucy promised.

The commander shrugged and leaned back against his tree trunk.

"I don't care," he replied. "Pay attention, recruit, you're missing too many targets."

Lucy greeted her teeth and tried her very best to locate the said targets, but his last comment made her snap.

"No normal human being would be able to hit those targets," she retorted, "it's pitch black out there, I'm tired and they're like 2000 meters away!"

"They're barely 1500 meters away," the commander retorted, "you'll never integrate the Elite Squad if you can't hit them when they're so close."

Lucy groaned and used her scope to aim at the targets. She knew she was doing a pretty good job, but her idiot officer didn't praise her even once yet.

"Bisca," he called. "Would you mind showing her what a real sniper can do?"

"What a wise thing to say about an angry recruit holding a sniper rifle," the irritated recruit mumbled.

"Maybe I'd be worried if you could aim right," he snorted in return.

Bisca took her own rifle to aim at the targets. She got all ten of them in less than two minutes. She put her weapon back down and looked at Lucy.

"The problem with you is that you're too easily distracted," she told her. "A true sniper has to focus on his target and on his target _only_. You can't afford to pay attention to Natsu, or any of us, if it distracts you. Also, your left arm is too tense, too much pressure prevents you from adjusting your aim. And your breathing is too fast, calm down. Try again."

Lucy made sure to ignore the teasing commander and corrected her arms' positions and her breathing. It sure was easier to aim now that she could ignore her annoying commander's voice. She got seven targets on ten.

"Better," Bisca said. "You still get excited too easily. Your turn, boy."

Lucy came to sit next to Natsu and leaned against the same tree trunk as Bisca went to give Alzack instructions.

"Who gave you permission to sit down, recruit?" the commander teased her.

"My legs, sir," she answered immediately. "I need to rest."

He laughed and ruffled her hair.

"This is the last exercise," he assured. "You'll go to sleep after Alazck's done."

Lucy couldn't help the small, satisfied smile that appeared on her lips and rested her chin on her knees. She watched as her fellow recruit aimed at the targets and shot. He was pretty good too. Bisca smiled at him and patted his shoulder, he blushed and edged away from her hands.

"I hope Bisca will be here tomorrow," Lucy joked, "it's the only way Alzack will make mistakes. Otherwise I think I have no chance of beating him."

The commander didn't answer right away, he was watching the other recruit while he was trying to focus on the targets despite the beautiful instructor's proximity.

"You'd be surprised," he finally said. "Alzack's good with wooden targets, but he hesitates a lot when he has to shoot people, even with paintballs. A sniper mustn't hesitate."

A moment of silence passed after that and Lucy turned her head to look at him. He was still watching Alzack's practice, his face was much more relaxed than this morning. He looked younger under the moonlight, when he was at peace. Well, when he was less stressed out than usual.

"Are you trying to reassure me, sir? How nice of you."

He smiled and pushed her shoulder.

"Stop mocking the commander," he ordered with no hostility in his voice. "Ah, they're coming here. Woah, Alzack looks like a walking tomato."

"We're done for today," Bisca declared. "I'll go back to my room. Good luck for tomorrow."

"Bye Bisca," the commander saluted, "thanks for today."

"Thanks," Lucy repeated with a small, tired smile.

Alzack only nodded and waved timidly.

"Alright guys," Natsu cheered. "I was a pain with you tonight, but it was for your own good. You did a good job. The Game starts at 10, we meet an hour before for preparations. Sleep well, see you tomorrow."

Lucy and Alzack walked back to their room happily talking about the Game and their new instructor, Natsu had told them that Bisca would work as a counselor for the sniper division starting next semester.

"I don't even know how to talk normally to her," Alzack whined. "I couldn't even muster the courage to look at her in the eyes..."

Lucy tried her best not to laugh, but Alzack noticed the amused smile on her face despite the darkness outside.

"Don't laugh," he groaned.

"I'm not laughing at you," she assured. "I find it cute that you're so shy with her. I've never seen you act like this with the nurses."

He snorted.

"That's because none of the nurses make me feel so vulnerable," he grumbled. "I have to stay away from her."

Lucy laughed for real this time and he kicked her leg.

"Ouch."

She didn't tell him that, but she was pretty sure he wouldn't be able to stay away from the beautiful sniper.

 **oOo**

When she got back to her room, Lucy told Loke that she had been a bit sick and that was why she had been avoiding him, she didn't want to infect him. He didn't believe her.

"Right..." he mumbled. "Well, next time you're not feeling good, tell me about it. I don't care about being infected."

Small talk ensued and they both went to sleep a few minutes afterwards. The room's window was open and Lucy was too tired to get up and close it, even when the cold air of the outside started to impregnate the room. A dog was barking in the neighborhood and she fell asleep a few minutes after she caught the faint melody of a song being played somewhere outside.

She was jolted awake at 3:30 a.m. Loke was sitting on his mattress, holding his throat as he was coughing his lungs out. He pushed his blanket off the bed and hastily got up, tottering toward the bathroom's door. Lucy jumped out of bed to follow him, but he closed the door before she could follow him inside.

"Loke!" she banged on the door. "Open the door, Loke!"

She heard him whine and groan inside before coughing again.

"Go back to sleep," he mumbled. "Leave me alone."

She groaned and turned around to turn the light on. When she had enough light, she saw dark black dots on Loke's sheets. She frowned and opened her eyes wide when she understood what it was. Loke was coughing blood. She heard him throw up on the other side of the bathroom door and went to bang on it once more, with stronger knocks.

"Open up, Loke! If you don't, I'm kicking the fucking door down!"

Silence followed her threat and she held her breath, trying to catch the faintest sound. He threw up once more and sighed before he flushed the toilet. The door opened soon after and took a step back to let him walk out of the bathroom. His face was morbidly pale and he had dark blue bags under his eyes. Not to mention the dark red trail running down his chin from the corner of his mouth. He wiped it with the sleeve of his pajama shirt.

"Are you trying to wake the whole barrack up?" he joked. "I'm just a bit sick, no need to panic like that."

"Just a bit sick?" she retorted. "You don't cough blood when you're just a bit sick. You don't look like you've just escaped a secret lab where evil scientists are creating zombies!"

"What a romanticized way to tell me I look like shit," he smiled sadly.

His eyes were glassy and staring at the floor, his small smile not reaching them at all. He was exhausted. Had he been this way all day long? She mentally insulted herself, she had been so focused on her own problems that she hadn't noticed her friend was not in his normal condition. She took his wrist and made him sit on her bed.

"What's wrong?" she asked with a gentle voice. "I've never seen you like this before."

He smiled and sat cross-legged on her mattress, leaning against the wall.

"I like your voice when you don't try to make it sound masculine," he answered instead. "You have a cute voice."

She frowned and stared at him with worried eyes. Now that she was paying attention, she noticed that he had lost weight too.

"You're not just a bit sick," it was more of an affirmation than a question. "How long have you been feeling bad?"

He shrugged.

"Not long," he answered, sounding a bit too carefree. "You worry too much, I'm fine."

"You're not fine at all," she protested. "I want you to talk to Erza about it."

He sighed again and hesitated.

"Alright," he said. "I promise I'll talk to Erza in the morning, before the Game starts."

"What? No way, you can't take part in the Game, are you crazy?"

He turned his head to look her in the eyes and let her go on.

"You're far too weak for this," she argued, "what if you start throwing blood up in the woods and no one knows where you are?"

"It won't happen," he assured, "I'll have my medicine with me. I only forgot to take it before going to sleep."

"Loke..."

"Lucy," he interrupted her. "I'm thrilled to see that you're so worried about me, really. But I need to participate just as much as you do, so, please, don't interfere."

She clenched her fists and glared at him.

"You can't ask me to let you fight in your condition," she groaned.

He smiled and ruffled her hair.

"But that's exactly what I'm asking you," he laughed. "I'll take my medicine properly and I'll talk to Erza. But I'll take part in the Game. And I'll never forgive you if you do anything to prevent me from participating."

Loke pretty much ended the conversation here and Lucy didn't get an ounce of sleep afterwards. She was tired and extremely anxious when she got up in the morning and went to the refectory to eat with her friends that had been selected to take part in the Game. Loke looked much better, but Lucy knew he had taken a lot of pills and applied makeup before coming to the refectory. Lucy greeted her friends with polite smiles and nods before sitting down next to Gray.

"Hey," the latter saluted. "Ready for the big event?"

"I hope so," she smiled nervously. "This is our best chance to get closer to our goals."

Gray nodded, staring at his plate with very serious eyes.

"Indeed," he agreed. "Failure isn't an option."

Lucy was impressed. She had one hell of a good reason to want to win this Game, but Gray's determination looked just as strong as hers.

"Hey, Rogue," she heard Sting call, "can I have your pie?"

Lucy's eyes went from Gray to Rogue, who was gloomily staring at his plate. She immediately noticed the black eye.

"Hey, Rogue," she called, "how did you get that?"

She pointed to her own eye to illustrate her thought and Sting laughed and patted his brother's shoulder.

"Ah, you noticed it right away," he smiled. "That idiot came to the room back late last night and he already had it. He said he bumped into a door, what an airhead."

"That's rich coming from the guy that spent his first night outside because he had forgotten where his room was," a deep voice commented from behind her.

The recruits stood up and saluted, so Lucy did the same. Natsu sat next to her and stole her apple.

"Hey!" she protested.

"What? If you wanted to eat it, you should have done so instead of talking."

In retaliation, she stole his brownie and shoved it in her mouth before he could take it back.

"You're going to pay for this," he promised, trying to steal her own brownie.

"That was payback," she countered, "you reap what you sow!"

They were still fighting when Loke coughed and she froze, the commander immediately taking advantage of her moment of inattention to take the brownie and swallow it whole.

"You lose," he declared with his mouth full of chocolate. "Now, everyone get up and follow me. The Game starts in an hour, we're going to prepare."

 **oOo**

It was raining outside and the weather wasn't supposed to get any better in the following days. The wind was cold and the sky was covered with heavy dark grey clouds that made Lucy wonder if a storm was coming. She glanced at Loke. He was walking a few feet behind her, his heavy bag on his shoulders and his large scarf around his neck. He didn't look sick, it was hard to believe that he was coughing his lungs out a few hours earlier. He winked at her when he noticed that she was looking and she smiled.

Finally, they reached the border of the forest. Their uniform was different than usual and Lucy noticed that the other teams had different uniforms as well: some of them were totally black, some were dark green or brown. Natsu's men were dressed in dark gray and brown. The first years' instructors were Natsu, Laxus and Bob. The second years' instructors were Gildarts, Goldmine and, surprisingly, Jellal, who was supposed to be a mere independent agent, but was always present when something important was happening. The team leaders went to stand in front of the ranks and waited for the general to make his appearance. He did so a few minutes later, holding a small bright green umbrella. He waved at everyone with a bright smile to greet them.

"Hello, youngsters," he cheered. "What an exciting moment! In a few minutes, you will be fighting for victory in this forest! But I have a few things to say before that. First of all, congratulations to all of you who have been selected to take part in the Game. Three teams have been formed with second years, so we had to form three teams of first years, which explains why they aren't much recruits present here today. The Game will last three days. The rules have been explained before so I won't say a word about them, your team leaders will give you specific instructions later. Just remember this, children: when the Game starts, you won't be happily training with friends anymore, you will be fighting against soldiers that need to win this just as much as you do. Believe me when I say that the winners of this year will get a reward that's beyond everything they could imagine. A reward that directly comes from the Octagon."

Lucy froze. The Octagon was implicated in the Game? Then, they would hear about her if she was among the winners? But it's not like she had a choice, she had to stand out if she wanted to get closer to her father. And what was that about a reward? The winners were only supposed to earn points and choose a speciality.

"Good luck, kids," Makarov concluded. "I'm already proud of you all!"

The team leaders were given maps with a red cross indicating the location of their base and Natsu's team followed the commander through the forest. Lucy was walking right behind him. He was tense, his jaw was contracted and he wouldn't stop turning his head in all directions to analyse his surroundings. Strands of hair were stuck to his forehead because of the rain and Lucy was suddenly captivated by a single drop of rain that landed of his eyebrow and slowly traveled down his face, caressing the hard line of his jaw and disappearing for a second under his chin, only to make its appearance again, a second later, on his neck. Her eyes followed the drop until it disappeared under the collar of his dark, soaked shirt. He turned his head in her direction and she was still looking at his neck and chest when he did. However, she didn't avert her eyes like she normally would. Instead, she looked him in the eye. It only lasted for a second, though, and he turned back around to keep on walking toward his base.

They found it quickly and immediately checked the surroundings, set traps and protections around the area and listened to the specific instructions. The commander told them that the first day was dedicated to observation: they had to learn the lay of the land by heart, prepare attack and defense strategies, find escape routes, locate the other bases, the traps around those bases, try to identify the enemies' strategies, find the flags. Not the most exciting part, but essential work.

"I won't give you much more information today," the commander explained, "because I want you to only focus on the task at hand. You all know what you have to do, we've talked about it countless times during special training. Don't forget: no one leaves on his own, no paintballs this time, but darts that simulate the pain of a real gunshot. Snipers, take someone with you and go search for good spots in the area. Come back before night falls so we can prepare for tomorrow's attack."

The commander and a few recruits stayed at the base and started to prepare strategies and defend the base against possible attacks: apparently, first years frequently attacked their fellow recruits to destabilize them and have more chances of finding a flag first. Loke was selected to stay at the base, so Lucy had to look for shooting spots with Gray. About two hours after the official start of the Game, they heard the first gunshots, somewhere near the old, abandoned hospital, on the west of the Academy.

"Already?" Lucy asked. "Weren't we supposed to be on observation duty today?"

Gray shrugged.

"Team Natsu is on observation duty," he reminded her. "Each team leader is free to give different orders. And being on observation duty doesn't mean that we won't be attacked either."

Lucy had to admit that she was impressed by Gray's calm attitude. Then again, he apparently was Natsu's cousin, it was probably a family thing to have nerves of steel. She glanced at him while he was observing their surroundings. She was dying to ask him about his relationship with the commander. Maybe it would explain why she had this strange sensation whenever she looked at Gray. At first it was just a vague feeling, but it kept growing stronger with each passing day, she had the feeling she had met him before.

"Hey, Gray," she distractedly called, "do you know me?"

She mentally facepalmed. What a surprisingly stupid question. Gray frowned at her and sneered.

"Is that a trap question?"

She averted her eyes and shrugged.

"Yes, no, forget it."

He hesitated and stared at her with strange eyes. He suddenly stopped walking and Lucy turned around to look at him with confused eyes.

"Um..." he started, "actually..."

Another gunshot interrupted him and they both flinched. This one was much closer. Gray took a step back.

"We're too close to enemy territory," he whispered. "Come on, let's go back."

Lucy gripped his arm when he took another step back and put a finger against her mouth to make him understand she wanted him to be silent. It was still raining heavily and it was difficult to see anything behind the trees, but Lucy's eyesight was excellent and she had caught someone moving near them.

She crouched and Gray imitated her. They cautiously approached the enemy soldier that was dressed in dark blue and grey. Lucy remembered these colors, they belonged to Gildarts' team. Apparently, Gray remembered them too.

"Shit," he cursed, his voice a whisper in her ear, "we have to get away from here."

Her hands tightened around her rifle. Her heart was beating fast, her senses were exacerbated. They were several of them: second years. It could only mean that their flag was near. Her blood was heating up in her veins and beating against her temples.

"Luc," Gray repeated, "we gotta leave, dude!"

She lifted her eyes and observed the tree branches above their heads. They were thin ones, large ones, twisted ones, straight ones. It took her ten seconds to find two very large branches that supported each other, forming a gigantic wooden cross.

"Go back to the base, Gray," she finally answered. "Tell the commander I found my spot."

The young recruit opened wide eyes and stared at her incredulously.

"In that tree? Right next to Gildarts's base? Have you gone nuts?"

She kept staring at the branches and smiled.

"Go tell him," she repeated. "And tell him that when you guys come to get me, I'll know where their flag is."

* * *

"It started today, didn't it?"

"Hm, it did, indeed."

"I wonder who will win this year, I've heard of talented recruits already, but it's always fun to bet on the winner."

"Dear friends, shouldn't we focus on more urgent matters? We're the Octagon after all. We've all heard of this serial killer that's running rampant in the Academy's neighbourhood."

"What do you want us to do about it? The Academy has an agreement with that city, they're responsible of security there. It's their job to arrest this killer."

"And it's funnier to talk about the Game, anyway."

"Right."

"And I heard the recruit that was kidnapped with the commander is taking part too."

"As a sniper, right?"

"Yeah, yeah, that's great. I heard the sick kid is taking part in it too, isn't it a waste to invest so much time and money in a soldier that will probably die before he even got to fight?"

"We already talked about it, let it go, god damn it."

"Tch."

"About that killer..."

"Oh god, you're a pain! Fine, let's talk about that killer so we can forget about it!"

"Let's just ask our old friend what he wants to do."

"Oh, right! You were the previous head of the Academy after all! What do you want to do about that?"

"…"

"Well, if a killer is free to roam the streets despite Makarov's presence there, I think we have to intervene."

"That's decided then. We'll go to the Academy directly and conduct an investigation."

* * *

 **End of chapter 11**

Hello dear friends, I know it's been a very long time, I'm late, but I have valid excuses: first: I had exams, second: I had work, third: there's a baby living in my house and it's a bit difficult to find time to write when he's here, yelling to get attention (or food), fourth: I had a friend coming over for a few days, and finally: I have a bit of a problem with my eyes: I have a lesion of the retina and I went to the hospital to have it checked by real doctors, but they're not sure how I got that. But, well, it's difficult to write when you see large black dots on almost all the words you try to write...

But I won't let you down! I'm back now and you'll get the full story, don't worry! I got a lot of awesome ideas during my leave and I really really hope that you'll enjoy the upcoming chapters!

From what I understood, you guys received a message telling you that a new chapter had been posted for Dauntless and that it was chapter 10, but I posted chapter 10 a long time ago, I don't know why posted it a second time. Sorry for that!

Now, a lot of you sent reviews and private messages and I want to thank all of you from the bottom of my heart for your support, thank you very much to everyone who favorited/followed, sent reviews and waited patiently for me to return. I read every review and every message, some of them actually move me or interest me to the point of saving them and using them later in the story!

Also, I created a Twitter account I could use specifically to post about the stories I write, do you think I should activate it?

That was quite a long-ass note, but you guys love me, so you don't mind, right? I'll be back soon with a brand new chapter and a lot more exciting scenes! See you!


	12. Chapter 12: Healing

**PART I – Resolution**

Chapter XII – Healing

* * *

" _Life will break you. Nobody can protect you from that, and living alone won't either, for solitude will also break you with its yearning. You have to love. You have to feel. It is the reason you are here on earth. You are here to risk your heart. You are here to be swallowed up. And when it happens that you are broken, or betrayed, or left, or hurt, or death brushes near, let yourself sit by an apple tree and listen to the apples falling all around you in heaps, wasting their sweetness. Tell yourself you tasted as many as you could."  
― Louise Erdrich, The Painted Drum _

* * *

Being the smallest recruit of the team sure had its advantages, Lucy realized as she climbed up the large tree. She smiled when she remembered Gray's face just before he left to go back to the base. He looked horrified, it was hilarious. He did try to stop her and bring her back to the base, but she was faster than him, and a few guys from team Gildarts were coming their way, so he had no choice but to run away. It was not like she was doing something stupid, anyway, it was a good plan! She knew her commander would run to her as soon as he heard about what she was doing, and she would find Gildarts' flag by then, so it was fine. The worst that could happen? She could take a dart that would make her feel a bit of pain, but the effects wouldn't last more than two or three minutes. Or maybe they would kidnap her to ambush her commander and his team... Maybe she should start thinking before acting. Well, whatever, what's done is done.

Lucy sighed when she finally reached the two large branches that formed a cross and lay down on them, positioning her rifle so she could use the scope to locate the enemy flag. The muddy land formed a slope behind thick bushes and small trees, and with that heavy rain, it was hard to see what was hidden there. Lucy saw a group of second years patrolling the area, they were carrying rifles, looking pretty relaxed for soldiers that were targeted by three teams of first years. She counted about 12 of them, moving in three groups of four. No flag, though. But it had to be somewhere close to here, she knew it!

She shifted her weight to the left to adjust her line of sight and her right foot slipped on the drenched wood. She felt her body fall backwards and had to let go of her rifle to grab the branches and pull herself up. Luckily, the rifle got stuck between the branches and she immediately took it back in her trembling hands. The temperature was dropping even though it was still the start of the afternoon, the rain was blinding her and the wind wouldn't stop whipping her hair across her face. Which reminded her that her hair was growing too fast, she needed to cut them short again. When the wind finally subsided and her thick strands of blonde hair were out of her eyes, the first thing she noticed was the silence. The only sound she could hear was the soft murmur of the wind gently ruffling the leaves. No human voices anymore, no footfalls, nothing.

She hurriedly adjusted her rifle and used her scope to check the area where she had seen the soldiers. Broken branches, dark bushes, roots coming out of the earth like giant snakes, but no soldier in sight. She moved the cannon of her rifle, according to what she could see through the scope, frantically searching for the second years and their flag. Damn, she couldn't lose them now, Natsu would be pissed off. Well, he will be anyway, but he'll be less annoyed at her if she tells him where the flag is.

She gritted her teeth when she found them: they were running away! It took her a second to realize that they were following a beaten trail going north and she jumped back to her feet when she did. She shouldered her rifle and breathed in: time to do something even more dangerous. She ran along the large branch she had been lying on until then and jumped to land on another pretty large branch. She repeated this operation a few times, jumping from tree to tree, her feet regularly slipping on the drenched wood. After five minutes of hunting, she heard the first gunshot and flinched when the dart violently hit the top of the branch she was standing on, tearing the wood away. That thing would hurt far more than what she had thought.

She tried to stay hidden behind the tree trunks as she chased the soldiers, but the hunt stopped soon after this incident anyway. Suddenly, all soldiers stopped underneath the trees and turned around, guns pointed at the highest branches of the surrounding trees. Lucy deduced that they didn't know precisely where she was. She sighed and checked her left leg: she had hurt it during her hunt and it was now bleeding quite a lot. Since her trousers were already ripped, she tore it up and used the piece of tissue to bandage the wound. It would be a problem if her dripping blood helped the second years find her.

She hissed when she tightened her makeshift bandage and couldn't help the slight whimper of pain that escaped her lips. Because of the heavily pouring rain, the tissue covering her wound was soon completely drenched and it curiously seemed to hurt even more. Another dart hit the tree trunk right next to her head, but she suspected that the shooter had just been lucky and didn't really know that she was there. She breathed in and out slowly, trying to control her pain and her heartbeat. She needed to calm down. Slowly: in and out, in and out, in and out. That's right, she was a soldier: pain was just a word. She opened her eyes and turned her head. She hadn't checked the other side of the tree trunk yet. She leaned against the trunk and used the higher branches to support herself as she tried to progress around the trunk, on the slippy wood.

The tree was so large that it was hiding a whole new area that was now visible to Lucy. The second years were forming a circular arc around a huge fallen tree that could be used as a bridge to walk over a pretty deep ditch. A small river was lazily flowing south at the bottom of the ditch. And on the left side of the ditch, underneath the large fallen tree, was planted a bright red flag with the number 1 written on it. Lucy blinked a few times and stared at the red little thing. Slowly, a huge, victorious smile appeared on her lips. She found it, the flag of team 1, aka team Gildarts. She had to admit that she had begun to worry when those guys tried to run away, but it turned out that she really managed to find the flag, after all.

All of a sudden, Lucy heard a bang from somewhere beneath her and, in the very next second, felt a sudden sharp stabbing pain in the thigh. It took her less than a second to look down at her leg and that very brief moment was all it took for the dart to deliver its chemical substance. On the upside, the dart only simulated the pain of a gunshot, which meant that Lucy wouldn't suffer any real damage from it. On the downside, her brain didn't recognize this aggression as a gunshot since there was no real wound and didn't create enough dopamine to reduce the pain.

Hoping that it would help, but not really expecting it either, she immediately pulled the dart out of her leg and threw it somewhere behind her. It took ten more seconds for the solution to fully operate and Lucy used this time to mentally prepare herself for what was coming, to regulate her breathing and brace herself. She sat on the branch and squeezed her thigh when the pain appeared for real. The first few seconds, it felt like someone had plunged a knife in her leg and the burning sensation caused her to whimper in pain. Soon enough, the burning sensation intensified and it felt like her muscle had been torn open and sprayed with acid. Her whole leg was hurting and she screamed in pain, not daring to touch her leg anymore. Somehow, it seemed that the stabbing pain was traveling through her body to tear at her hip and stomach too.

She didn't even know if she was still screaming, and she was barely conscious when she fell from the branch. She felt her back, ribs, arms, legs and head bump violently against several branches, but the pain caused by the dart was still the most unbearable. She was nearing the ground now, and she was falling from a pretty high spot. She wouldn't make it out of it unscathed. Well, she was almost unconscious already, maybe the fall wouldn't hurt that much. She closed her eyes when she saw the earth right beneath her and tried to protect her neck and head. She was in so much pain it would be a relief to die, but she was still rational enough to know this sensation would disappear. It was only a game, there was no way she was dying for a flag.

Finally, the lowest branches of the trees were above her head and getting farther and farther away from her. The ground leaped up to meet her at full speed and none of the second years were running to try and catch her before she fell. They just watched. And Lucy did fall, but the impact was nothing on what she had expected. The effect of the chemical reaction started to wear off and the young woman half opened her teary eyes to see that she wasn't lying on the earth. She wiped her eyes and looked up. Someone was carrying her, but her vision was blurry and she couldn't see who it was. She mentally sighed in relief, thanking whoever had decided that it would be a good idea to save her sorry ass after all.

"I think you guys understand the situation you're in," a low, menacing voice growled. "Take your fake flag and scram."

No human voice was heard after that, instead, Lucy heard the deep rumbling of thunder and the rain started falling even harder. She opened her eyes once more and this time, she had a good enough vision to see what was going on. She didn't really need to look at the person carrying her to know who it was, but she looked up anyway and when she did, a flash of thunder illuminated her commander's face. He looked furious. The muscles of his arms were very tense and his jaw was just as contracted. His ice cold eyes were shooting daggers at everyone and no one in particular. So, this was why no one had dared to move earlier. But still, he was alone, so why not shoot him? Lucy turned her head to look around and understood why no one was even trying to aim at the commander. Her whole team was here, pointing their rifles at the enemies. Everyone had stopped doing whatever they had to do the moment they heard about her crazy plan, they followed Natsu and ran here.

Since the second years had been protecting a fake flag, hoping for a stupid first year to try and get it, they weren't much of them present at the moment, they were clearly outnumbered. They decided to accept Natsu's proposition and left with the fake flag without trying to fight. The moment they were out of sight, Natsu dropped her.

"Get up," he growled, "we're going back."

Lucy gulped and tried to move her leg. The pain was much weaker now, but it still hurt a bit.

"I was shot," she timidly answered, "it still hurts so..."

"I don't care," he cut her off, "get up and walk."

He was pissed off, really. His voice was dripping with barely contained anger and his clenched fists were shaking. Lucy decided it was best not to argue and took a deep breath before forcing herself to stand back up and apply a bit of her weight on her hurt leg. Luckily, the dart's solution was almost completely dissipated now, it slightly tingled, but she could walk on her leg. No one talked to her or tried to help her as they walked back to the base under the pouring rain. Gajeel wasn't even looking at her, Gray was avoiding her eyes, Loke was nowhere to be seen, and Natsu was the angriest of all. She bit back her tears. She had brought this upon herself, everything was her fault. The commander told them not to act rashly, not to try anything on the first day, not to leave on their own. She had disobeyed almost every order. And she regretted it dearly.

When they arrived at the base, Natsu ordered everyone to go back to their position. They were to keep patrolling the area, set traps, exploring the surroundings and follow the former instructions. But Lucy obviously wasn't allowed to go back to work. The commander grabbed her arm above her elbow and dragged her to the command tent where he forced her to sit at a table in the back of the tent.

"Wait here," he ordered before leaving the tent to go God knew where.

Lucy waited in silence, quietly sitting on her chair, eyes staring at the floor. She wondered if she was going to get fired. It would be the end of her plan to save her father, but at the same time, it would mean that she wouldn't have to face her commander's disappointed eyes, she wouldn't have to hear him tell her she had failed him and his team. She wouldn't have to feel this stupid and guilty anymore. She had climbed up that stupid tree hoping to bring victory to her commander because she wanted to make him proud of her, she wanted him to notice her and acknowledge her. But she had acted like a selfish ten year old brat and it would have been the end of team Natsu if Gildarts had been there at that time.

The commander entered the tent a few minutes later and closed the tent flap. Before the door was completely closed, Lucy saw a guard outside the door and assumed that the commander had made arrangements to make sure they wouldn't be interrupted. He walked toward her with long, fast steps and she reflexively stood up to stand at attention, but the commander abruptly grabbed her by the collar of her jacket and the impulse of his movement made her fall on the table.

"Did you have fun when you were up there, chasing enemy soldiers all by yourself, jumping from tree to tree like a fucking monkey!?" he roared. "How many times do you think you could have died doing that!? What do you think would have happened if I hadn't made it in time!? What the fuck were you thinking about!?"

His arms were still shaking with anger, but Lucy wasn't scared of what he could do to her. She was scared of what he had already done. Because the answer to his last question came to her naturally and immediately: him. She was only thinking about him when she decided to try to find the flag on her own. And that definitely wasn't her style. Why in the world would his opinion of her matter so much? When the time came, he'd be fighting for the opposite side, he was her enemy. She was getting attached, she understood. Not only to Natsu, but to Loke too, and to Gray, and to Gajeel, and to a few others. She was forgetting who and where she was. She was forgetting about her only objective.

"Did you do that on purpose?" the commander asked with a strange voice, filled with both anger and distress. "Did you want to die, back there?"

His face was red and his whole body was tense. He was a mess. Because of her.

"Is that why you shot Laxus when he was threatening me?" he went on. "Because you were hoping he would kill you first? Answer me, dammit! Say something!"

Did she want to die? That sure would be a huge relief for her. She would be freed from all of this: those people that just wouldn't let her stay the sad and angry loner she was when she joined, the revenge against the Octagon, saving her father from the Pandemonium, facing the men that ruined her life. She wouldn't have to remember either. She was very much aware that her memory was incomplete. '' _You've been hurt here before, there's a thin scar_ ,'' Natsu had said to her the day they had been kidnapped by Jellal. But she was starting to remember, or at least she thought that she was starting to remember things from her past. And she didn't want to remember yet, she wasn't ready. Because she was starting to think that those annoying people that just wouldn't let her stay the sad and angry loner she was when she joined weren't that bad, altogether. Maybe it would be fine to live with them a bit longer, until the day she would be forced to let it all burn to ashes. And that day would probably come much sooner if she got her memories back. Before that, she wanted to be sure of it: were those people really healing her? Was she still able to trust or love other people, beside Erza? Probably, if her reaction at Loke's attack was anything to go by. She almost thought that he would die... She didn't want him to die, she wanted him to keep on living for her. And she would keep on living for him. She wanted him to keep on healing her. The realization almost made her cry: until then, she merely existed to get revenge. But she was starting to learn to live properly again.

"No," she sobbed. "I don't want to die."

And it was an honest answer. She didn't think of death as a way to be freed from her problems anymore. Natsu frowned and his anger seemed to deflate completely after hearing her heartfelt answer. He let go of the collar of her shirt and breathed out. His trembling hands brushed a few strands of pink hair out of his eyes and he sat down in front of her.

"Don't ever do something that stupid ever again, then," he sighed. "And I still want you to tell me why you did that."

She explained her reasons to him, but didn't tell him about how she wanted him to notice her, acknowledge her and all the other embarrassing things. In the end, he called her a selfish, reckless brat, but she was expecting it.

"You should go see Loke," he finally said, "he was worried sick about you."

Lucy opened wide eyes and her breathing almost stopped.

"He looked sick?" she repeated, voice dripping with worry.

The commander massaged his chin with his left hand and shrugged.

"Not really sick," he answered, "actually, your face right now is quite similar to the face he made when he heard about your stupid plan."

Lucy jumped back to her feet and quickly walked toward the closed flap of the tent.

"Wait," the commander called. "I forgot to tell you about our next operation. We're going out tonight, try to get some sleep before then."

oOo

"You falling for the second years' trap isn't really the problem," Loke explained, "the problem is your suicidal behavior after that."

Lucy sighed, eyes still glued to the floor.

"I know," she admitted, "I got lectured harshly about that and I deserved it. I'm sorry, I won't do something like that again, I promise."

Loke stared at her with serious eyes and Lucy didn't try to avoid his intense gaze. He sighed and massaged his neck with his right hand. He looked like a million tonnes had just been lifted off his shoulders.

"I believe you," he breathed. "It's just that I was really worried since you said your father was your only reason to keep living and I thought that maybe you had lost hope or something along the lines, and..."

"I figured you'd think something like that," she answered. "And..."

She breathed in deeply and checked their surroundings. They were sitting on a fallen tree trunk a few meters behind the base. The rain had stopped a few minutes ago, but the sun was already setting. The wind was cool and the nice smell of wet wood and grass filled the air, along with the appeasing sounds of the forest. They were alone.

"And," she went on, "I might have changed my mind about that. My only objective still is to save my father, that didn't change, but I think it's not my only reason to keep living anymore. I think that I'd love to live with you, and Erza, and the others."

She sighed when she lifted her eyes to find that Loke was having a really hard time holding back his tears of joy.

"Why are you crying?" she smiled. "I'm saying something positive, here."

He laughed and grabbed her by the collar of her shirt to pull her toward him and hug her tightly.

"Positive?" he repeated. "I would say 'great' or 'wonderful', instead of just 'positive'."

His arms tightened around her waist and he nestled his nose in the crook of her neck. Lucy froze.

"I wish we could have lived together, too," he breathed.

Lucy gently pushed him off her so she could look in his eyes. He was making _that_ face again, the one that made her feel like he would disappear on her, very soon.

"Loke..."

He immediately understood what she was going to ask and didn't give her the chance to do so.

"But I'm moved, really," he cheered, "I didn't expect you to declare your love to me in such a cute way. How about we run away from this country and get married?"

She could have insisted to get an explanation about his strange behavior, but she knew it would be the end of the conversation and he most probably wouldn't talk about it at all in the future. So, she sucked it up and let it go. She giggled and pushed his shoulder.

"In your dreams, playboy."

He laughed, but Lucy could tell that he was still feeling down, his smile didn't manage to reach his eyes.

"I'm hurt," he joked.

He looked her in the eye and smiled softly, the moonlight faintly reflecting in his tired eyes.

"Thanks, Lucy."

"You're welcome," she smiled back.

"So, did you know you almost killed the commander today?"

She frowned.

"What?"

He smirked and leaned back on the trunk.

"I was right beside him when Gray arrived and told us about your crazy plan," he explained. "He went berserk, it was fun to watch. I thought he was having a heart attack. I'm sure he has a thing for you."

Lucy rolled her eyes.

"Don't get all worked up over nothing," she countered, "I'm a guy for him, remember? And he was so pissed at me earlier, you wouldn't say that if you had been inside the tent with us..."

"I'm saying that exactly because I saw him getting furious over you," he argued, "you don't get angry at someone who's risking their life if you don't care about them."

"He's an officer," she shrugged, "it's his duty to watch over his recruits."

"Oh, come on, Lucy," her friend whined, "don't play dumb with me! Sting almost died when he decided to try to eat fire last month, when we were supervising the extinction of that forest fire, did you see the commander get crazy mad at him? No."

Lucy sighed and shook her head.

"So what? Even if what you say were the truth, it would mean that he's gay since he thinks I'm a man."

Loke burst out of laughing and Lucy frowned at him. Had he finally gone nuts?

"Sorry," he laughed, "I just imagined the commander staring at your ass and questioning his sexuality! His face was hilarious in my mind!"

oOo

Lucy was impressed at how silent they were despite their number. Team Natsu's uniforms were completely black and Natsu had brought black face paint: they were invisible in the dark. The commander had formed four teams of five persons, each following its own itinerary through the pitch black forest.

 _"I noticed something interesting when I came to get you," the commander had told Lucy before they left the base, "the second years were scared of me. Nothing surprising there, but it disconcerted them to hear me give them a serious order. And a few of them instinctively turned their heads toward a certain spot, behind them. When they left, they all walked toward that spot, somewhere on the north-west of the forest."_

 _"The abandoned hospital," Alzack guessed out loud._

 _"Exactly," Natsu agreed. "We're going there tonight. It's only a reconnaissance mission, got it? We'll go there and search for the flag. Follow all my instructions religiously when we reach the hospital, the area will most probably be full of traps and guards."_

Natsu was leading the main team, consisting of himself, Lucy, Gray, Gajeel and Sting. Loke was in the team that was supposed to search the north side of the hospital. When they were near the hospital, Natsu pointed to the left and two teams left, including Loke's. A second later, the commander pointed to the right and the two remaining teams left as well. He then turned around and glanced at Lucy, who nodded at him: she wouldn't fail him again. He smiled and nodded back. They progressed forward, taking a few turns, always staying behind the trees, occasionally stopping to listen to any sound they could catch.

Lucy was the first one to notice the first set of traps. A row of darts had been set on a large tree trunk. At the feet of this tree, a thin string had been stretched between this tree and another, smaller one. The commander almost walked on it when Lucy grabbed his shoulder and pulled on it violently. Similar traps had been set in the area and they had to find and neutralize most of them before continuing.

After a few minutes, they were hiding behind thick bushes, staring at the dark and old abandoned building that used to serve as a psychiatric hospital.

"This is creepy as fuck," Sting shuddered, "we're not going in, are we? Cause I'm sure there are ghosts in there. The tormented souls of the abused patients of this asylum are patiently waiting for the time they will be able to get revenge on their tormentors. But since their tormentors are dead too, they'll just take anybody who enters that place and torture them until they die or become so crazy that they need to be hospitalized against their will. Ever heard of involuntary commitment? They want us to go through the same horrific events they lived, I tell you."

His teammates frowned and stared at him with dubious eyes.

"How did you pass the psychological tests?" the commander asked. "Whatever, just be quiet and follow me."

Sting shrugged and mumbled a faint: ''don't say I didn't warn you''. When Natsu found the perfect spot to keep an eye on the hospital, he crouched down behind the bushes and his recruits imitated him. They patiently waited for the other teams' signals. The first signal came a few seconds later in the form of an owl hooting: Alzack's team was in position. Loke's team's signal came right after it, and the other teams' signals all came soon after. The commander whistled three times and the closest recruits passed the message to the remote team members: time to go.

Lucy's heartbeat sped up when the commander moved from his hiding spot and led them toward the menacing asylum. Her quick heartbeat sent blood pulsing against her temples as she took a deep breath in. She didn't want to admit it, but this place gave her chills too. They saw guards patrolling in front of the gates and aimed at them. Lucy felt bad for them since she now knew how painful those darts were, but they were training to become soldiers anyway, and they knew the risks. When they shot, the second years fell and screamed in pain. But it was fine, Natsu's small team was supposed to be a decoy to attract the enemy's attention and let the others find the flag. They tied the guards up while they were still suffering from the darts' effects and passed the large, rusted and rickety doors. When they arrived in front of the proper building's entrance, though, they heard a very loud bang coming from the left side of the building.

A second of silence followed the explosion before they started to hear screams. Another explosion was heard, closer to their position this time, and gunshots ensued. This could only mean one thing: one of the reconnaissance teams had been busted and Team Gildarts was fighting them. The commander cursed. Of course, they had a plan ready in case they needed to retreat, but it meant leaving this place with no flag and less men.

But, as he was getting ready to retreat, another explosion was heard on the right side of the building this time. Gunshots were heard from almost everywhere, but the front of the asylum was ironically calm. The commander frowned and tried to focus on the voices: someone was shouting orders, a lot of recruits were yelling in pain or determination. But most of those voices didn't belong to Natsu's recruits.

"Another team is attacking this place," the commander declared. "From what I can hear, it's Laxus' team. This isn't good, we should retreat."

As he was saying this, they saw a young man run toward them and aimed at him.

"Woah there," he raised his hands in capitulation, "it's me! Jet!"

Jet was in Alzack's team, why was he here? Lucy listened attentively as the young man tried to explain what was going on, panting all the while.

"The lieutenant's team is here too," he said, "they have smoke bombs and they're attacking both us and Gildarts' team."

The commander gritted his teeth and smirked wildly.

"That bastard..." he half growled, half laughed, "we retreat. Tell the others to follow the plan."

"Well," Jet hesitated, "about that plan..."

"What about it?"

Jet gulped and shifted awkwardly.

"Alzack and Loke's teams were forced to enter the building," he finally said, "they won't be able to retreat."

Lucy froze. Loke was inside? Loke, who was sick to the point of throwing up blood and coughing his lungs out, was inside a building with enemy soldiers shooting poisoned darts?

The commander clenched his fists and glared at the asylum as if the building itself was responsible of this horrible turn of events.

"Are you sure?" he asked.

Jet nodded.

"Where are they exactly inside the building?"

The young man gulped again and Lucy was tempted to strangle him: they didn't have the time to be afraid, they had to act quickly!

"They're in the Red Wing, sir," he whined, "where they treated schizophrenia and bipolar disorder."

Natsu groaned when he saw how scared Jet was.

"For Fuck's sake, Jet, it's just a name! That building isn't haunted, get your shit together!"

"Where's the Red Wing?" Lucy asked.

Jet managed to calm down after Natsu's exasperated lecture and he answered almost immediately this time.

"It's on the north of the building," he explained. "When you get there, there are two large doors leading to the Blue and Red Wings."

"In other words," Natsu groaned, "they're on the opposite side of the building..."

"Yeah..."

Any sane officer in Natsu's shoes would order his men to retreat. Too bad for the guys that were inside, but they should have been more careful. And it was not like they were going to die anyway, it was only a game. Another explosion was heard in the north of the building, followed by more screams. His eyes found Lucy's and stayed there for a bit. He seemed to be looking for some sort of advice in her eyes, a clue on what was the best thing to do. He finally turned back around and looked at Jet.

"Tell the guys to retreat," he repeated, "follow the evacuation plan and go back to the base. We'll join you there."

"Excuse me, sir?"

The commander turned around and faced his small team. All four of them had understood what they were going to do, and they most definitely would obey this order without a second of hesitation.

"We're going inside," he declared, "find your comrades and help them leave this place."

"Yes, sir!"

oOo

The north gate of the asylum was in chaos. They were so many men fighting, screaming and running in all directions that Natsu and his team went unnoticed as they ran for the double doors. Gray was hit by a dart in the shoulder, he screamed and crushed the thing barehanded under the influence of anger. Unsurprisingly, he handled the pain much better than she did and kept running for the doors.

"We'll wait for each other in front of the south gate," Natsu said when they were inside the infamous Red Wing, "behind the bushes that hid us when we got here. Good luck, guys, you better get out of here safe and sound."

They all took different directions, running along broad, cold corridors, taking turns and checking every room on their way. They needed to stay on the ground floor as long as possible, because it would be even harder to find their comrades if they had gone upstairs. But after a few minutes of searching her side of the wing, Lucy had to face reality: for some reason, her friends were somewhere on the upper floors. She ran until she found a set of stairs and stopped in front of it, hesitating. The walls flanking the stairs were painted in light blue that had turned yellowish green with the years. Someone was lying on the steps, unconscious. Lucy recognized the uniform of team Laxus and a lump formed in her throat. She gulped and her eyes followed the dirty white handrails to the top of the stairs. Time to man up, Lucy.

* * *

 _...LOKE..._

* * *

Loke had to bite his laughter back when the second year turned around for the fourth time and started shooting at the walls, screaming at the ghost to leave him alone. But playtime was over, he had to leave the asylum. He and a few recruits had been forced to enter the Red Wing and climb up the stairs to escape the fights, but the commander and Lucy were probably worrying. And they tended to do stupid things when they were worried, he was pretty sure that they were on their way to the Red Wing at this very moment. The young man opened a familiar door that led to a smaller corridor. At the end of the corridor, he pushed open a set of double doors and found himself facing five doors on each side of the new corridor. He scratched his growing beard, trying to remember which door led to the set of stairs. Well, whatever, he'd just open them all.

The first door led to some kind of storage room. The second door led to an empty room and Loke had no idea what it was used for. He opened the third door and looked inside. It was a strange, dilapidated operating theater: the operating table in the center of the room was old and rusted, creepy instruments were arranged on a stainless steel table near the operating table, strange machines with tubes that Loke assumed were connected to the patient were still occupying the back of the room, behind the operating table.

"Woah, creepy," Loke shuddered, "that room just _has_ to be haunted."

He took a step back to leave the room, but felt something brutally push on his back. He fell to his knees and heard the door slam shut before being locked.

"I hope you had fun harassing me, jackass!"

Loke recognized the voice of the second year he had been following earlier.

"Alright, alright," Loke said as he stood back up, "I apologize. I won't do it again, it was just too tempting. Come on, open up."

"No way," the second year retorted, "you're gonna spend the night in here, that will teach you to respect your elders."

"Are you sure that you're older?" Loke joked. "You're so small and beardless, not even a hair on the chin. You sure you're not 15? Or a girl?"

"Laugh all you want," the other retorted, "we'll see who's laughing after you've spent the night in this creepy room."

Loke arched an eyebrow.

"What? Are you serious?"

"Bye, buddy."

"Wait, you're not serious, right? Come on, don't talk rubbish!"

Loke pressed his ear against the door and heard the other's laughs as he walked away. This wasn't even close to funny. He cursed and kicked the door, but the damn thing didn't bulge.

"Come back here!" he shouted. "Open up, dammit!"

The door of the corridor closed and no sound was heard after that, except the furious beating of his heart. Loke turned around and looked around the room to find another exit. The room was dirty and filled with spooky instruments all related to nearly medieval surgery. The air was heavier in there, there was almost no light and Loke was sure that a weird stench was starting to fill the room. He kicked the door again, using more strength. Still no result.

"HEY!" he yelled. "GET ME OUT OF HERE! ANYONE, PLEASE, OPEN THE DOOR!"

His throat burned and he fell to his knees, coughing blood and feeling as if he was throwing acid up. He glanced at the room over his shoulder, the shadows of the surgical equipments seemed larger for some reason. He froze and held his breath when he heard a scratching noise coming from somewhere in the back of the room. The air was suddenly even heavier than before, Loke felt as if he were suffocating. People had died in this room, he was sure of it. He knew how to recognize death's presence now, and it was all over this room. He gritted his teeth and stood back up to pound on the door with his clenched fists.

"OPEN UP!" he roared. "OPEN THE DOOR! OPEN THIS FUCKING DOOR, NOW!"

More blood escaped his lips and he bent over to cough and throw up. He straightened up once more and punched the door. He punched it again, several times, occasionally kicking it. The smell of blood was unbearable, but he knew it was all in his head. The stench of death, the feeling of suffocation, the taste of blood. Of all rooms, of all recruits fighting in this fucking asylum, someone just had to lock him up in a room that had death soaking its atmosphere. His fists were bleeding too now, but he never stopped punching and kicking the door, all the while screaming for help.

* * *

 _...GRAY..._

* * *

There were so many doors and corridors upstairs, it was seriously discouraging. Gray had had to shoot four second years already and he felt bad for them. He knew just how painful those fucking darts were. And he had to admit that he was a bit disappointed: he was hoping that Gildarts had hidden his flag in the rumoured haunted wing of the asylum, but it didn't look like he had. He sighed as he pushed open another dirty white door and found more doors. He really wasn't lucky. He had seen Luc in the corridors earlier, he had found Alzack and was escorting him outside. Natsu would appreciate that. Luc, huh? He snickered.

"I wonder how long this will go on," he mused out loud.

He kicked another door open and found a smaller corridor. At the end of the corridor, a set of double doors that most probably led to another stupid corridor. Gray opened the doors and found himself facing five doors on each side of the new corridor. He heard them immediately: the screams, the powerful knocks on a door, the coughs. Gray kicked the first door open: nothing inside. He did the same with the second door: still nothing. He kicked the handle of the third door with so much strength that the little thing flew toward the other side of the room. The door suddenly opened and Gray opened wide eyes when he saw Loke pounce out of the room, panting and covered in blood. He glanced at the inside of the room, saw nothing but creepy medical things, closed the door. He immediately rushed to his friend's side and put a reassuring hand on his shoulder. He was burning up. He had to dodge a punch when Loke turned around and grabbed him by the collar to force the shocked man to sit down.

"Loke!" he called. "Look at me! It's me! Gray! Calm down, you're out!"

The injured man was panting, his fingers clawing at Gray's hands. He started to calm down when he recognized his friend's face.

"Gray," he panted, "thank God, you're here."

"Yeah, I'm here, buddy," Gray tried to appease him, "don't worry, I'm here."

"Don't tell the others about what happened here," Loke whined.

"Of course not," Gray promised. "Though, I'll have to tell Natsu."

"Gray..."

"What?"

A moment of silence passed as Loke breathed in and out, slowly.

"Where's the motherfucker that locked me in there?"

"How should I know. Come on, get up. We're leaving."

* * *

 **End of Chapter 12**

You probably understood it, but I'm going to focus a bit more on Gray and Sting from now on. Because I'll need them for something important soon.

As usual, don't hesitate to tell me what you've thought of this chapter. I personally am satisfied with it, we're making progress on several levels.

On a personal note: I received several messages from readers telling me that they're glad I'm back and that they're worried about my eyes. I also obviously read the reviews you left and let me tell you, I really missed you all. I really had to say it: thank you for reading my story, thank you for being so kind and thank you for your support.

Now, on a more serious note: I will end this fanfiction, I promise, but it will be a long story, we're still not even halfway to the end. And I am starting a new fiction, this one will be entirely from me: plot, world, characters, everything. I will post it on FictionPress when it's done, I'll give you all the details when the time comes!

Yours, truly!

L.

* * *

 **Preview: chapter 13**

 _"You can't shoot the head!" he protested. "It's against the rules!"_

 _"I'll play fair when you guys do," she retorted. "Where are they?"_

 _Tobi gulped and suddenly decided that this time was as good as any to try being a man._

 _"Shoot," he said, "I won't talk."_

 _"You won't?"_

 _"No way."_

 _"Alright, then."_

 _She snatched the idiotic sock hanging around his neck and threw it to Alzack._

 _"Burn this thing," she ordered._

 _Ten seconds later, Alzack was holding a lighter close to the sock and Tobi was begging her to spare the poor thing._

 _"I'll talk," he cried, "I'll talk! Don't hurt her!"_


	13. Chapter 13: Prisoner of war

**PART I – Resolution**

Chapter XIII – Prisoner of war

* * *

" _Percy, let me go" she croaked. "You can't pull me up."  
His face was white with effort. She could see in his eyes that he knew it was hopeless.  
"Never," he said. He looked up at Nico, fifteen feet above.  
"The other side, Nico! We'll see you there. Understand?"  
Nico's eyes widened. "But-"  
"Lead them!" Percy shouted. "Promise me!"  
"I-I will."  
Below them, the voice laughed in the darkness. Sacrifices. Beautiful sacrifices to wake the goddess.  
Percy tightened his grip on Annabeth's wrist. His face was gaunt, scraped and bloody, his hair dusted with cobwebs, but when he locked eyes with her, she thought he had never looked more handsome.  
"We're staying together," he promised. "You're not getting away from me. Never again."  
Only then did she understand what would happen. A one-way trip. A very hard fall.  
"As long as we're together," she said.  
She heard Nico and Hazel still screaming for help. She saw sunlight far, far above- maybe the last sunlight she would ever see.  
Then Percy let go of his ledge, and together, holding hands, he and Annabeth fell into the endless darkness."  
―Rick Riordan, The Mark of Athena_

* * *

 _"Young master, you need to put more effort into it if you want to become a proper adult some day," the old preceptor said. "Your brother already mastered this weeks ago."_

 _The old teacher's name was Mr. Barrett, or something like that. He was pretty tall and thin, had grey hair forming a circle around the bald top of his skull, a thick grey moustache and was always dressed in a tight black suit. Lucy glared at him through the window of the office, he was being mean again. Her silent friend didn't answer, he didn't care about becoming a proper adult. The preceptor sighed._

 _"Very well, we shall stop here then. Try to think about what you learned today."_

 _As soon as Gray walked out of the old office, Lucy grabbed his hand and ran, dragging him along._

 _"Finally!" she laughed. "It took forever for this lesson to end! I was bored!"_

 _"I didn't ask you to wait for me," the boy retorted._

 _Outside, the sky was grey and the sun was covered by heavy black clouds that threatened to unleash pouring rain and menacing thunder very soon. Lucy smiled brightly. She was the only one Gray ever talked to. He only gave polite and very short answers to her parents when they talked to him, but he never had proper conversations with anyone but her._

 _"I know," she answered, "I wanted to play with you."_

 _"I don't really want to play..."_

 _"Oh, don't be like that! We have to spend a lot of time together while we still can!"_

 _Gray froze and the little girl wasn't strong enough to make him move forward. She turned around and stared at him with curious eyes._

 _"Gray?"_

 _He had tears running down his pale cheeks._

 _"Lucy, I'm sorry," he breathed. "I don't want to leave... But, after what happened... we really don't have a choice..."_

 _The little girl stared at her friend with clenched fists, burning eyes and a forced smile that hurt her jaw._

 _"D... don't worry about that," she sobbed. "I'll be fine... I still have Michelle and da... I still have Michelle."_

 _Gray took her hands gently._

 _"You have your father too," he reminded her. "He's still here."_

 _This time, tears did manage to escape despite all her efforts._

 _"He spends every day locked in his office and won't talk to either of us at all anymore," she cried, "he died when mom died..."_

 _She wiped her eyes with the sleeve of her shirt and felt Gray's hand on her wrist before he pulled her to him and hugged her tightly._

 _"I'll come back for you some day," he promised. "I won't let them take you away too."_

 _Lucy hugged him back, burying her tear stained face in his shirt._

* * *

Jess closed her eyes when Simon leaned in to kiss her. She was sixteen and this was her first kiss. It was hesitant and shy, as to be expected from him. They talked a bit more after that before Simon's mom called to tell him dinner was ready. Jess got a similar call soon after him. They kissed again and left, promising to meet again the following day.

Jess blew on her hands. It wasn't even winter yet, but the weather was quickly getting colder and colder. She smiled to herself: she had been in love with this boy for four years already and she finally managed to confess her feelings to him. Turned out he was actually gathering his courage to do exactly the same thing.

Jess turned left at a corner and frowned when she realized the narrow street wasn't lighted. Probably another power cut, it wasn't unusual at this time of the year. As she walked forward, she was forced to notice that the light from the other street was quickly weakening. Soon, she was progressing in complete darkness, hands outstretched in front of her to guide her.

Something fell behind her and she flinched, turning around abruptly. Despite the dark, she saw a small shadow walk lazily away from the fallen bin. It was only a cat. Jess sighed and turned around again. She bumped into something tall and robust, took a step back and squinted her eyes at the thing blocking her path. Someone was standing here, right in front of her.

"S... sorry," she stuttered.

The man didn't say a thing, he didn't move either.

"I didn't see you because it's so dark," she explained.

Still no answer. Jess got a bit scared of this creepy stranger and moved to walk past him. She didn't see him move even when she was behind him. So she started to walk again, only to feel a powerful arm grab her waist while a large hand suddenly covered her mouth. Jess fought back, she screamed and kicked, but didn't manage to break free.

The following morning, her body was found in that same alley, with her throat sliced open. The police immediately deduced that she was another victim of the now infamous serial killer: John the Butcher.

* * *

oOo

* * *

Lucy glared at the stupid second year named Tobi that was guarding the door. She would have to retrace her steps if she couldn't use this stupid door. Alzack leaned against the wall and sighed, massaging the back of his neck. He looked exhausted. She focused on Tobi once again and observed him. He was playing with a small wooden stick and was apparently trying to tame an invisible dog with the help of a sock that seemed to serve as a very weird pendant. Lucy first wondered how an idiot like him could be a second year in the Academy, but then she shot him and realized with horror that the dart had no effect on this idiot. He didn't even feel it when it hit him in the back of his leg.

"Luc, I'm not feeling good," Alzack whispered.

She could imagine it, he had four darts planted on his back when she found him. It was a miracle that he was still conscious.

"Sorry," she said, "I'm trying to get you out of here as soon as I can, but that idiot didn't feel the dart..."

"What a lucky bastard..."

Lucy nodded, her eyes staying on the second year. Alzack was hurt, Loke was nowhere to be found and this asylum was creepy as hell. She wasn't wasting any more time waiting for an opportunity to get out unscathed. The fact that Tobi was immune to the darts didn't mean that he was aware of it, after all. Lucy shouldered her rifle and left her hiding spot.

"Hey, Tobi," she called loudly.

The boy abruptly turned around and she shot his hand before he could react. As expected, he dropped his weapon, expecting the pain to appear soon.

"Hands up," she ordered.

For a reason Lucy would never be able to guess, Tobi obeyed, despite the lack of pain. He was so confused that he quietly obeyed even when Lucy told him to go down on his knees and she tied his wrists with rope. Well, this had been way easier than expected. Her first prisoner of war. Alzack stood back up and joined them when she pushed open the door, holding Tobi in front of her like a shield. On the other side of the door were five doors and three had been kicked open. Lucy froze when she saw the blood on the ground near the third door.

"What the hell happened here..."

"I don't know," Tobi whined. "I was told to guard the door after one of your comrades came here and went berserk for some reason..."

Lucy forced the crying Tobi to approach the door so she could have a look inside. There was blood on the door, as if someone had been punching it non-stop until their fists bled. The room's content was creepy: it looked like a horror movie set.

"Someone was locked up in there," she realized. "Did you guys do that? What kind of sick fucks are you?"

"I don't know anything about that," Tobi assured.

"Right, keep walking."

They opened the last door and realized that they had finally found those fucking stairs! Lucy would have danced in joy hadn't she been escorting a prisoner.

"We're almost out, Alzack," she promised. "Hang on for a few more minutes."

Her comrade nodded, but didn't look like he'd manage to climb down the stairs.

"Hey," Tobi called, "you sure you're okay, dude? You look like you just lost your favorite sock..."

Lucy kept an eye on Alzack as they climbed down the stairs, but he wasn't lying when he said he could do it. When they finally reached the ground floor, Lucy found a large map in a glass frame and realized that they were still in the Red Wing, but on the opposite side. There was no one around. On her left, corridors and medical rooms, on her right, windows on the wall. She looked outside as they quietly walked along the corridor. It was raining again and the trees were bending and blocking the passage leading out of the asylum as they curved under the force of the strong wind. She stopped walking and stared outside. Something was wrong. Alzack frowned at her.

"What is it? We have to keep going."

She ignored him and focused on the sounds. Outside, the storm was raging, inside, the fights should still be shaking the building. But she couldn't hear a thing. And then, it hit her. Loke and Alzack were forced to enter the building because of the enemies: once inside, they were chased and had to climb up the stairs to hide upstairs. The second years chased her comrades all the way to the Red Wing and continued to hunt them down once inside, only to quietly let them escape when the rescue team arrived? Lucy cursed, gritted her teeth and grabbed Tobi by the collar of his shirt to squash his back against the wall. He whined in pain when his head hit the wall.

"What are you planning?" she growled.

"I don't know what you're..."

Lucy punched the wall right by his head and accidentally crushed the plasterboard, which efficiently scared the shit out of her prisoner.

"I don't know much about their plan," Tobi admitted, "I only heard the basics..."

"I'm all ears," Lucy groaned.

* * *

 _\- Ten minutes later -_

* * *

Lucy was panting when she finally reached the top of the stairs. She had been running all along and wasn't even there yet. She had to hurry. She picked up speed and ran along the broad, dark corridor, her lungs burning, her legs hurting. She took a quick look at her watch, ten minutes left. She could make it. She tripped on something and almost fell, cursing. Now that Tobi had explained Gildarts' plan to her, a lot of things suddenly made sense.

"Who's the idiot, now?" Lucy groaned as she ran to where the commander should be.

oOo

 _Alzack had to sit down when Tobi started talking, but Lucy didn't have the luxury to take care of him at the moment. As she listened to her prisoner's explanations, she understood that they had entirely misunderstood the situation and that they were in deep shit._

 _"We knew you were going to attack the base tonight," Tobi said, "well, the lieutenant-colonel knew. I don't know how he figured it out, but he did. We were supposed to let you guys approach and then force you to enter the Red Wing. After that, we had to make you leave in different directions, in small teams, to isolate the commander."_

 _Lucy snorted._

 _"The commander?" she repeated. "You were hoping to face him on your own? Are you guys stupid?"_

 _Tobi smirked._

 _"Probably," he admitted. "But we're not the ones going after the commander. We're not_ that _stupid."_

 _Lucy frowned._

 _"Then, who..."_

 _She stopped in the middle of her question, eyes widening as understanding hit her._

 _"No way..."_

 _"Laxus's attack didn't change the plan," Tobi snickered, "we're just fighting more people. The target didn't change."_

 _Lucy cursed and punched him square in the face this time. She then wrenched the helmet off his head, lifted her rifle and pressed the barrel against his head. He whined and half closed his eyes, as if it could protect them if she decided to shoot._

 _"You can't shoot the head!" he protested. "It's against the rules!"_

 _"I'll play fair when you guys do," she retorted. "Where are they?"_

 _Tobi gulped and suddenly decided that this time was as good as any to try being a man._

 _"Shoot," he said, "I won't talk."_

 _"You won't?"_

 _"No way."_

 _"Alright, then."_

 _She snatched the idiotic sock hanging around his neck and threw it to Alzack._

 _"Burn this thing," she ordered._

 _In the very next second, Alzack was holding a lighter close to the sock and Tobi was begging her to spare the poor thing._

 _"I'll talk," he cried, "I'll talk! Don't hurt her!"_

 _He told her that Gildarts and a few second years were apparently tricking the commander into running toward the Red Wing's auditorium, right by the director's office, on the second floor._

 _"Why there?"_

 _"How should I know? They made me guard the doors near the east stairs!"_

 _"It's because you're an idiot," Alzack explained. "They didn't trust you to be a real part of the operation."_

 _"Hey, who do you think you are to..."_

 _Lucy knocked him out with his own helmet and left him with Alzack, who assured her he was feeling better and he could watch over Tobi, before running toward the stairs._

oOo

Lucy turned left at the end of the corridor and froze when she heard voices. She jumped back behind the wall to listen without being seen. She sighed in relief when she recognized the voices: they belonged to Loke and Gray. She walked out of her hiding spot and walked toward them.

"Guys, I'm glad you're here!" she said. "Listen, we've got trouble, I need your help with... What the hell happened to you?"

Loke was leaning on Gray with an arm around his friend's shoulders. His face and hands were covered with blood. Loke sighed.

"We've been caught," he smiled. "Gray, tell him that you beat me up when I rejected your confession."

"Shut up, idiot."

Lucy glared at them and took a deep breath in.

"Ok, listen here, you idiots. The commander is going to fall right into Gildarts's trap very soon if we stay here. So Gray, help Loke get out of here and come back to the auditorium as soon as you can, we'll need help to get out."

"Hey," Loke protested, "I'm not letting you guys..."

"I'm not negotiating here," she interrupted him. "We'll talk about how you got all that blood on your face when we're back at the base."

Loke opened his mouth to object, but at that moment the doors at the other end of the corridor opened. Lucy and Gray both turned around and pointed their rifles at the newcomers. Two young men dressed in Gildarts's team's uniform were here, their own rifles pointed at Lucy and Gray.

"Look what we've got here," one of the second years said. "Lost rookies. Maybe we should show them the way out."

His friend snickered.

"Thanks, but we won't need help," Gray retorted. "We're just gonna get our commander back, take your flag and get out."

This time, the second year burst out laughing, his friend covering him.

"Take back your commander?" he repeated. "Our flag? You fools, the flag isn't even in this building."

Gray stared at him for a moment.

"Liar," he finally said, his voice calm.

The second year stopped laughing and frowned.

"Even if it's here, you won't get to put your filthy hands on it," he growled. "We're guarding it."

"So it's really here, after all," Gray smirked.

A moment of silence.

"You were bluffing."

"Yep."

Another moment of silence.

"Idiot," the other second year commented.

"Shut up," his friend spat, "it doesn't matter, they won't find it."

"It's in the auditorium," Lucy countered.

The first second year's eyes widened.

"How did you know?"

"I was bluffing."

 _"Well, not entirely_ ," Lucy thought as the second years argued. She just thought that the only thing that could lure the commander inside the auditorium was the flag. And she had been right.

"It doesn't matter," the idiot second year shouted, "we'll just beat you to a pulp and then we'll have peace... hey, I recognize you. Yeah, you there, behind the two rookies holding rifles. You were the one messing with me in the corridors. I see you managed to get out of the room. How did you like your stay in there? Did you learn your lesson?"

Lucy frowned and slightly turned her head to glance at Loke. He was frowning too. A second later, his eyes widened as he recognized the other man. He took an angry step forward and Gray stopped him with his left arm, still pointing his rifle at the second years.

"What are you doing?"

"It was him, Gray," Loke growled deeply. "Let me pass."

Gray understood right away and his eyes sent daggers at the laughing bastard at the other end of the corridor.

"Are you sure?"

"Absolutely."

Gray nodded and put his left hand back on his rifle.

"We'll take care of them for you," he said, "get back, you're not in any state to fight."

"Whose fault do you think it is that I bled so much!?" Loke roared. "I heard him laugh when he left me in there!"

And then, Lucy understood. She remembered that creepy operation theater, the blood on the door and the floor. She had figured out that someone had been locked inside. Turned out that that person was Loke. She stared at the laughing recruit, gritted her teeth. She lifted her eyes and saw the large glass panel above the door. She acted on impulse. She shot the panel and watched as a rain of glass shards fell upon the two second years. She shot again and the dart planted itself in the other second year's leg. He fell and screamed in pain. The other second year, the one that had locked Loke up, aimed at her head and shot. Gray jumped and pushed her to the side. He jumped back up and ran in a curious bent position toward the other man. He dodged three darts and Lucy saw the second year's eyes widen when her friend finally reached him. Gray straightened up and punched the side of the guy's head, knocking him out. The whole thing lasted ten seconds to the max. A moment silence followed while Gray brushed invisible dust off his shoulders and slowly turned around, and in his pockets. His jaw was contracted, his eyes cold, but he wasn't panting even a little.

"I think we should take Loke with us," he finally said, "we were quite loud just now, it's dangerous to leave him alone and we can't afford to waste even a second."

"I agree with mister-super-soldier," Loke smiled.

Lucy kept staring at Gray even as they walked away from their unconscious enemies, frowning. She knew that he was a strong man, with good abilities, but not _that_ good. In training, he was lazy and was serious only when fighting with Natsu. But even then, he was never as impressive as he had been just now. Why was he hiding his skills? It would be much easier for him to join the Elite Squad if he showed everyone what he was capable of.

A few minutes later, they were approaching the auditorium. Two groups of second years were guarding the double doors. No surprise there. They looked for one of the smaller doors that led to the backstage, where the conference equipment was stocked. According to Loke, the corridor leading to that door had collapsed years ago and the path was blocked with large debris. People believed that, on the other side of this barrier, the tormented spirits of the asylum's patients had come back as evil ghosts. They found the blocked corridor quickly. Lucy glanced at her watch: five minutes left. In five minutes, the recruits guarding the doors of the auditorium would vanish and two or three of their comrades would come running in there, with the commander chasing after them if everything went as planned.

"So," Gray whispered, "Luc, what's your plan?"

Lucy shrugged.

"I don't know," she admitted, "I was pretty much going to run in there, grab the commander and run back out."

"I see," her friend sighed. "You're an idiot. We need a plan."

"Why not follow Luc's plan?" Loke asked. "It would be fun."

"It won't be fun anymore when we're hit by those darts."

"It's true that they hurt quite a lot," Lucy agreed.

Gray kicked large debris out of their way to create an opening in the barrier and allow them to crawl through. He was the first to go and checked the surroundings before telling his friends to join him. He smirked as Lucy struggled to crawl through the small hole.

"You're squirming like a girl," he mocked. "Need a hand getting up?"

"Shut up."

"Don't listen to him, Luc," Loke said from behind her, "take all the time you need. I'm enjoying the view from here."

Lucy finally managed to get out of the hole and get up, pouting. Gray smiled softly and ruffled her hair before starting walking again.

"You haven't changed a bit," he laughed softly.

"Too softly for Lucy to hear."

"What did you say?"

"Nothing, let's go."

They walked in silence for about thirty seconds before Loke got tired of the heavy silence and decided to enjoy himself.

"So, Gray," he drawled, "I heard you've been getting real close to your lovely nurse lately?"

The other man sighed.

"We're going to fight against Gildarts in less than five minutes, I hardly think the time is right to talk about that."

"You're right," Loke conceded, "let's talk about that when the Game is over and we're quietly resting in our hospital beds, bones broken from our fight with the lieutenant-colonel."

Lucy laughed.

"We're really nuts," she agreed. "The three of us are going to take on the best fighters of Gildarts' team and try to get away with a fourth person."

"Without a plan," Gray added.

"History's made by people who have gone nuts," Loke affirmed.

"Well," Gray smiled, "we'll soon have our names in the Academy's history books then."

The door appeared all of a sudden, out of nowhere, and killed the good atmosphere in an instant. Gray's jaw contracted again and Lucy felt her stomach tighten. Loke looked fine, though.

"Time?" Gray asked, voice tense.

"One minute."

Her friend took a deep breath and grabbed the handle.

"Here goes nothing," he smiled nervously.

The handle turned silently and the door slowly opened to reveal the darkness engulfing the auditorium. It was dead silent inside the large room. The rows of old, dirty seats were empty, so were the galleries, the corridors behind the large split pillars and the huge stage in the center of the room below. Lucy held her breath as she spotted the bright red flag with the number one embroidered in the center of the stage.

"The trap could hardly be more obvious," Gray commented under his breath.

Lucy nodded and entered the dark room, hurrying toward the closest row of seats. She hid between the rows, her friends imitating her. She glanced at her watch and held five fingers for her friends to get ready: five seconds left. She shouldered her rifle and pointed it at the large doors at the top of the stairs.

Four. Gray cursed, he had apparently walked on a chewing-gum.

Three. Noises from outside.

Two. Loke shifted. He was somewhere below her, near the stage.

One. Her heart hammered against her temples.

Zero.

Silence filled the place and she held her breath. The doors suddenly burst open as two panicked recruits entered the auditorium, running as if they were chased by a demon. Natsu ran in right after them. He froze when he realized where he was and turned around, only to see the doors slam shut from outside. Lucy had to admit that their enemies were quick to act. The commander kicked the door once, it cracked, but didn't open. He took a step back to kick it again, but suddenly jumped backwards as something flew toward him and planted itself in the wall, where he was standing a second earlier. Lucy gulped when she realized it was a javelin.

"You're too naive, commander," a deep voice sang from somewhere in the auditorium. "It was so easy to guide you here. But it's partly why we, second years, like you so much."

Another javelin was thrown from the shadows cloaking the galleries and Natsu grabbed a dagger from his belt and sliced the thing in two.

"Hey," she heard Gray whisper. "Why are they using real weapons here?"

Lucy shook her head, not sure if her friend could see her. Not sure she cared either. This Game was way more dangerous than she had thought. Emerging from the shadows all around them, at least twenty second years surrounded them, blocking the main exit. They all pointed their rifles at Natsu.

"Hands up, commander," the voice ordered, "you're our prisoner of war."

The commander looked around him, eyes stopping on each recruit for a few seconds. He had no way out.

"I refuse to surrender," he declared. "You'll have to fight."

Lucy smirked. That's the commander for you, as if he would just admit defeat that easily. A first dart was shot and the commander managed to dodge it, but the second one planted itself on his shoulder and he roared in pain and frustration. The fights started and Lucy watched for a few minutes as Natsu punched, kicked, sent recruits flying over his back. At some point, he managed to steal a long wooden stick and was now hitting the recruits with it. He seemed to be tiring quickly. Lucy turned and called Loke.

"Come with me," she said, "we're going to catch the flag. Gray will prepare a way out for the commander."

She gave her instructions to Gray after that and they all went to work. Since everyone was busy fighting, Lucy and Loke met no one on their way down to the stage. They climbed small stairs on the side and hesitated when they reached the wooden platform. They were still hidden in the shadows, but it would change the moment they set foot on the stage. Would the second years be too busy with Natsu to notice them? She looked at him again and frowned when she saw blood on his forehead. He was panting and his left arm seemed useless.

"Stay here and cover me," she told Loke. "I get the flag and we run, making a lot of noise while doing so. Gray will take advantage of our diversion to help the commander run away. We use the haunted corridor to leave."

Loke shouldered his rifle and nodded.

"Alright, no problem. Did I ever tell you that you're really sexy when you act like an officer?"

She ignored him and finally climbed on the stage. Her stomach tightened as she took a few steps forward. The fights went on and didn't stop even when she entered the ring of light on the center of the stage. At some point, Gray even got involved, presumably because he was found out, and joined the commander. He really was impressive when fighting. He probably even matched Natsu when he was serious. She took the flag and took a deep breath in: time to make some noise.

At that moment, a loud bang was heard from behind her and she turned around. All eyes were turned toward the stage now, but Lucy's attention was focused on the large shadow on the back of the stage. It was crouching behind large wooden boxes and ropes and cables. Slowly, it rose to a standing position and turned its head toward her. Lucy took a few steps back as the dark figure walked in her direction, until he finally entered the ring of light. Gildarts smirked at her: he had been hiding there from the very beginning.

"Run!" the commander yelled from the other side of the auditorium. "Run! Now!"

His voice jolted her back to her senses and she turned around to throw the flag to Loke.

"Go!" she ordered.

"What about you!?"

"Just go!"

Loke glared at her.

"Fuck no!" he growled. "Come with me! Why are you staying behind!?"

"Having a friendly chat over there?"

Lucy spun around and found herself facing the lieutenant-colonel.

"Don't take it personally," he smiled sadly.

He shot her in the left thigh and she fell, screaming in pain.

"Lucy!"

Lucy was in so much pain that she didn't really care that Loke had just shouted her real name in front of the lieutenant-colonel. With her teary eyes, she tried to watch as Gildarts jumped off the stage and ran after Loke, who was heading for the small side door, screaming and waving the flag like a mad man, following the plan. From the other side of the auditorium, Lucy saw Gray run for the stage. She yelled at him to leave her alone and pointed at Loke.

"He's got the flag!" she shouted. "Get away from here!"

Gray immediately ran after Gildarts and Lucy realized that the commander wasn't with him. Her eyes traveled back to the top of the rows of the auditorium and found him there, kneeling. He had something in his hands and was pressing it against his left arm. Lucy squinted her eyes and saw that the thing in his hand was a syringe: he was injecting something to himself. He grimaced and stood back up. The second years that were still around him attacked him, but he barely looked at them even as he sent them flying in every direction. His left arm seemed completely fine now and he wasn't panting anymore. If anything, he looked even better than he did when entering the auditorium. He too ran for the stage when his opponents were knocked out.

"Go after the others!" she yelled at him.

He stopped, hesitating.

"I'll be fine, so go!" she roared.

He cursed, but nodded at her and ran after Gray. Lucy followed them with her eyes, starting to think that they might not make it. Loke was already at the door, Gildarts was close behind him. Gray jumped on the lieutenant-colonel's back and dug his boots in the back of Gildarts' knees. The officer fell and cursed as Gray jumped away from him and after Loke, out of the auditorium. When Natsu ran past Gildarts, the latter jumped back to his feet. Lucy knew he was going to chase them along the collapsed corridor. And he'd see that the only exit her friends had was a small hole in the collapsed wall. He'd see that they needed a lot of time to crawl through that hole, one at a time. He'd have all the time in the world to shoot them and capture them.

Lucy sighed and shouldered her rifle. With that, she'd have absolutely no way out. She aimed at the broken, wobbly candlestick above the door, and shot. The heavy thing fell to the ground and shattered into millions of pieces that flew in every direction, efficiently preventing anyone from reaching the small door. The commander stared at her from the obstructed doorway and she could see him clench his fists and grit his teeth.

"I'll come back for you!" he yelled. "I'll get you back, I promise!"

She smiled at him, brightly, genuinely.

"Alright, I'll be waiting, commander!"

The door slammed shut as her teammates escaped the auditorium. She sighed and lay down on her back. The effect of the dart was wearing off, but it was still painful and now, she was alone, surrounded by enemies. Gildarts climbed up the stairs leading to the stage and crouched beside her.

"Well, that was very brave," he conceded. "You saved your commander and stole my flag. Unfortunately, you're our prisoner of war now. And the boys of my team will put all the blame on you for this."

Lucy shrugged and smiled.

"I won't stay long," she laughed. "Didn't you hear him? He'll come back for me."

* * *

End of chapter 13

Well, hello everyone! I'm sorry it took me so long to update, but I'm back to uni and I have work, so the updates will be slower. Really sorry about that! On a positive note: we're quickly approaching important parts of the story: the chapters will soon become much more intense!

I'll also try to post a second chapter to The Last Valkyrie as soon as I can!

As usual, please, don't hesitate to tell me what you've thought of this chapter. Thank you very much to everyone who reviewed, favorited and followed the story! Your comments always make my day, it's a real pleasure to see that you're enjoying it so much!

Though, to be honest, most of you will most probably hate me when we reach the sad parts...

Until next time!

* * *

 **Preview**

The lieutenant-colonel walked beside her and stopped when he saw her grinning face.

"I guess you've heard the news," he smirked, "your commander is really coming for you. We're preparing to receive him at the moment."

Lucy smirked back.

"I never doubted that he would. I heard he wasn't coming alone?"

Gildarts chuckled and pointed at the commanding tent.

"Go on," he told his men, "I'll join you in a moment."

The second years obeyed immediately and left them alone. Gildarts came to crouch in front of her. He seemed tired, but still looked like he was having a lot of fun.

"Indeed," he sighed, "we're preparing for a joint attack from your commander and the lieutenant Dreyar."


	14. Chapter 14: The monster inside

**PART I – Resolution**

Chapter XIV – The monster inside

* * *

" _Perhaps the greatest faculty our minds possess is the ability to cope with pain._

 _Classic thinking teaches us of the four doors of the mind, which everyone moves through according to their need._

 _First is the door of sleep. Sleep offers us a retreat from the world and all its pain._

 _Sleep marks passing time, giving us distance from the things that have hurt us._

 _When a person is wounded they will often fall unconscious._

 _Similarly, someone who hears traumatic news will often swoon or faint._

 _This is the mind's way of protecting itself from pain by stepping through the first door._

 _Second is the door of forgetting. Some wounds are too deep to heal, or too deep to heal quickly._

 _In addition, many memories are simply painful, and there is no healing to be done._

 _The saying 'time heals all wounds' is false. Time heals most wounds. The rest are hidden behind this door._

 _Third is the door of madness. There are times when the mind is dealt such a blow it hides itself in insanity._

 _While this may not seem beneficial, it is._

 _There are times when reality is nothing but pain, and to escape that pain the mind must leave reality behind._

 _Last is the door of death. The final resort. Nothing can hurt us after we are dead, or so we have been told."_

 _\- Patrick Rothfuss, The Name of the Wind_

* * *

 _Lucy panted and sighed in exhaustion, holding the dead soldier's arm tight and pulling on it with all her strength. She gritted her teeth and did her best not to whine under the effort. Michelle and the boy weren't whining, so she wouldn't either. Michelle helped her carrying the dead man by his other arm, the boy carried the legs._

 _"Are you ok, Luce?" the boy asked, his own voice shaking as his body was weakened by the burden on his arms, back and legs._

 _The young girl didn't trust herself to speak, so she nodded, hoping that he could see her. She tripped on an unusually large root and had to let go of her own burden to catch herself. The soldier's head fell to the ground. The boy had covered it so that they wouldn't have to look at it as they searched for a good place to hide the body, but it was still the scariest thing Lucy had ever done. Michelle and the boy both dropped the body and ran to her side, kneeling beside her._

 _"Are you hurt?" Michelle asked, voice filled with worry._

 _"We'll rest for a few minutes," the boy offered._

 _Lucy nodded. He had been the one to say that they should hide the body. The first soldier had been killed on the spot when Michelle hit his head with a rock, but it could pass as an accident. The same couldn't be said in this case. Lucy still didn't know who he was, only that Michelle had found him somewhere not far and that he had agreed to help them._

 _The children sat pressed close to each other and Lucy soon started to drift off. She tried to resist the pull of exhaustion at first, but ended up falling asleep while leaning on the boy's shoulder. He was warm and comfortable, she felt calmer now. She didn't sleep long, though, and when she emerged from her quick nap, Michelle and the boy were talking._

 _"You mean he's your cousin?" Michelle asked, sounding very surprised._

 _"Yes," the boy answered. "It's a complicated story, but he came running to my gramps's house and started yelling something about an attack. It took ages to calm him down and get the full story. After that, gramps had to gather a team and it took a bit of time, that's why we didn't make it on time. I'm bringing you to the others now, you'll be safe with them."_

 _"I'm not sure," Michelle hesitated, "we don't know anything about them..."_

 _"Oh, don't worry about that," the boy cheered, "they're all really nice people! They'll find you two a nice place!"_

 _"We're not staying with you?"_

 _The boy laughed._

 _"You'll miss me?" he joked. "Don't worry, I'll come back to see you both, one day. But my family's a bit special, that's why you can't stay with us. It's too dangerous."_

 _"More dangerous than the soldiers that just destroyed our lives?"_

 _Michelle's voice surprised Lucy, it was cold and distant. The boy didn't answer right away, but he did, eventually._

 _"Depends on the point of view," he finally said. "But we'd never stoop so low as to attack a defenseless family."_

 _Another long moment of silence passed and Lucy wondered if she should tell them that she was awake._

 _"I see," Michelle finally breathed. "I refuse to be separated from Lucy."_

 _"Of course."_

 _"Ok, then. Thank you."_

 _Even without seeing him, Lucy knew the boy was smiling brightly when he answered, she could hear it in his voice._

 _"No problem!"_

 _Lucy smiled too._

 _When she opened her eyes for good, she didn't find the corpse they had been trying to hide and Michelle told her that she didn't need to worry about it anymore._

 _"We got rid of it," she assured. "Now, we're going to meet some new friends."_

 _And Lucy kept on smiling when they got back up and started walking again, already trying to think of excuses for Michelle and her to stay by the boy's side._

* * *

OFFICIAL ACADEMY'S GAME OF CAPTURE THE FLAG

DAY 2

* * *

Lucy groaned in pain when she woke up. The ropes had been tied too tight and sleeping in a sitting position against a bent tree trunk never did wonders to anybody, she feared. She took a moment to take in her surroundings and enjoy some peace. Everyone was still asleep, apart from the two sentries guarding the camp. In daylight, the base looked less hostile than it had when she had been brought there, a few hours prior. She even saw a rabbit jump behind bushes near her. Still, Lucy couldn't forget that it was filled with enemies and that she officially was a prisoner of war. She leaned her head against the tree as a surprising fact finally struck her: she remembered her dream. She almost never did, but she remembered this one. Partially, at least. In her mind, she saw flashes of the night of the attack, of the chase in the surrounding woods, of the two men they killed that night, of the boy with the shotgun. She frowned. She was onto something there, she just knew it. Something really important. The truth behind her father's disappearance was a puzzle and she had all the missing pieces hidden somewhere in her mind. Ah, now that she thought about it, she'd have to have a serious talk with Gray as soon as possible.

"Already awake, I see," someone said.

She turned her head and glared at the man standing beside her tree.

"What's the mean look for?" he laughed. "You're the one that decided to stay behind."

Lucy turned her head and stared at nothing in particular in front of her. She knew this second year by name, Bacchus something, rumored for being drunk half the time and a fearsome fighter.

"What? Ignoring me, now?" he laughed. "It just makes me want to annoy you more."

He sat cross-legged in front of her and smiled dumbly. She groaned.

"Why are you here? It must be five or six in the morning already, don't you have a barrel of beer to drown in?"

He burst out laughing and slapped her shoulder, which only annoyed her even more.

"You're a funny lad," he said. "You're actually the funniest prisoner my team ever got. The others usually got scared and tried to be all nice and sweet to avoid getting beaten up."

Lucy tried to shrug, but the ropes successfully managed to unable to do that as well.

"I'm tied to a tree," she pointed out, "if your teammates want to beat me up, they will be able to do it easily. It won't change a thing if I'm nice or not. I'l just have to remember their faces and get back at them later."

Bacchus nodded and smiled nonchalantly.

"You know, I originally intended to beat you up as soon as I had the chance," he admitted.

Lucy faked a yawn and sighed.

"Really, now? Then, can you do it now, please? I'm sure I'll enjoy it more than your conversation."

Bacchus laughed again, he seemed to be genuinely enjoying himself.

"Nah, I won't," he smiled. "Your friend, the one that ran away with our flag, he said something that made me change my mind."

"I'm glad for you."

"It was right before he left," Bacchus went on. "When Gildarts shot you. I was near to the stage so I heard it."

Lucy didn't understand why this idiot looked so smug, or where this conversation was going.

"The first time I heard about you, I didn't even bother remembering your name," Bacchus smirked. "There was a rumor about a guy that managed to shoot the commander during training, but I was sure it was luck."

"This is fascinating," Lucy ironized.

"The second time I heard about you, it did interest me. My friends told me that you were spending a lot of time with a nurse. Cana."

Lucy frowned. She wondered if she was really tired or he was purposefully making it difficult for her to guess what he really wanted.

"Yeah," she said, "so what?"

Something wild suddenly shone in the man's eyes, his smirk widened.

"I've been chasing after this woman for more than a year," he almost growled, "so I was pretty annoyed when I heard about the newbie that was seen with her almost on a daily basis, you see?"

Lucy stared. And laughed. Burst out laughing, even.

"I see, so you're jealous," she kept on laughing. "And you want to beat me up to impress her, right? God, that's so pathetic, I can't find the words! Fine, just beat me up if you want, you'll just make her hate you, moron."

Strangely enough, Bacchus's smile didn't weaken at her harsh answer. He crossed his arms over his chest and patiently waited for her to calm down.

"Are you done? Good. As I was saying, I changed my mind. Partly because of what you said, it really would have made me the pathetic, jealous, violent thug."

He looked around to check if someone was nearby and smiled even more when he was sure that they were alone.

"But, to be honest, the real reason why I'm not worried about you anymore is because I heard what your friend yelled, yesterday."

He leaned in to get closer to her and whispered.

"I heard your name, Lucy."

Lucy froze, but didn't panic. She had thought that someone might have heard Loke call her name, so she had prepared herself overnight. She arched an eyebrow and stared at him as if he was the biggest idiot the planet had ever known.

"What are you talking ab..."

"Ah, no, please, don't do that," Bacchus interrupted her. "It'll just ruin everything if you deny it and I'll lose interest."

"I really don't understand a thing you're saying..."

Bacchus sighed and shook his head.

"Ok, I understand, you're tired and taken by surprise. I'll let you off for now. And don't worry, I won't tell a soul about you."

With that, he stood back up without waiting for her answer and left after winking at her over his shoulder. Lucy frowned. _''I'll let you off for now''_ , he'd said. Well, now was as good a time as any to get started then. She tried to move her arms and shift their position despite the ropes until she felt the glass shard she had picked the night before, when she had ''accidentally'' tripped and fell near the broken candlestick.

Now, you might think: why start cutting the ropes now when she could have done it during the night? The answer's simple. She was exhausted and wasn't ashamed to say that she fell asleep.

Half an hour later and she still wasn't done with her ropes. She hissed when the shard cut her hand again. She didn't remember how many times she had cut her hands in the process, but the ropes were probably covered with blood by then.

She sighed and leaned her head against the tree. Even now, as she closed her eyes, she could see the commander's face before he left. Jaw tight, fists clenched, eyes hard. He had been so reluctant to leave her. She smiled when she remembered the expression on his face and the intensity of his voice when he promised to come back for her. Loke's words came back to her. _''I was right beside him when Gray arrived and told us about your crazy plan,_ he had explained. _He went berserk, it was fun to watch. I thought he was having a heart attack. I'm sure he has a thing for you_. _''_

At the time, she purely rejected this thought. But now, she was starting to have some doubts. She wasn't _that_ naive, she knew the commander hated to leave a comrade behind, but he never looked _that_ desperate. She sighed again. Really, what was she doing, dreaming of stupid things like that?

She had thought that maybe she could quietly wait here for the commander to come and free her, but the situation here was getting a bit more complicated with Bacchus knowing about her secret and she was bored as hell. So, she resumed cutting the ropes restraining her. She realized it may not have been such a great idea when a scout ran back to the base and into the commanding tent. A minute later, the lieutenant-colonel suddenly walked out of his tent, a small group of second years following him.

Lucy looked at them as they walked to different spots of the base, giving orders here and there, looking a bit worried and in a hurry. Two second years that had just been given orders walked quickly in her direction and she focused on their conversation.

"Can't believe they'd actually team up on us," the first said.

"Yeah, it's unheard of," the other agreed. "But it means that those guys are probably important. We've got to keep them."

The first guy glared at Lucy.

"Important to the point of joining forces despite being rivals in the first place?"

Lucy arched a brow, understanding that there was another prisoner in the base. She looked around. Where was he? To which team did he belong?

The lieutenant-colonel walked beside her and stopped when he saw her grinning face.

"I guess you've heard the news," he smirked, "your commander is really coming for you. We're preparing to receive him at the moment."

Lucy smirked back.

"I never doubted that he would. I heard he wasn't coming alone?"

Gildarts chuckled and pointed at the commanding tent.

"Go on," he told his men, "I'll join you in a moment."

The second years obeyed immediately and left them alone. Gildarts came to crouch in front of her. He seemed tired, but still looked like he was having a lot of fun.

"Indeed," he sighed, "we're preparing for a joint attack from your commander and the lieutenant Dreyar."

Lucy raised her eyebrows and whistled.

"Wow, you're in it deep, huh."

"Indeed," Gildarts laughed. "Not even I can stop those two if they're allies. So we'll just slow them down with traps and false clues about our escape route."

"So, you're running away," Lucy summed up.

"Yes, we are. And you're obviously coming with us. Natsu's doing something very unusual to get you back, so we're definitely not letting you go. Same goes for our other prisoner."

"Oh, right! Who is it?"

The lieutenant-colonel stood back up and stretched his back, groaning in relief.

"That, prisoner, is none of your business, I'm afraid. Well, my boys need me to organize our flight, so I'll be leaving you alone for a moment."

"You could just set me free," Lucy suggested, "then their alliance would naturally dissolve itself and you'd be fine."

"Nice try, rookie," Gildarts waved as he walked back toward the large tent.

Lucy leaned back against the trunk and smiled. A joint attack with Laxus was really something to be worried about. She was thrilled. Now that everyone was running around in panic and nobody was here to keep an eye on her, she got back to cutting the ropes tying her to the tree. She hissed and clenched her teeth when the glass dug into the already injured flesh of her hands, but kept going. There was no way she'd be tied to a tree when the commander came to rescue her. No, she'd be standing among the enemies, fighting.

Half an hour later, while the members of team Gildarts were starting to pack their things to leave the base, Lucy felt the ropes go loose around her. She had done it in time. She sighed in relief when she dropped the glass shard that had most probably left pretty deep wounds on her palms. She looked around her. On her left, the tents were being emptied of their contents, Lucy saw mounts of bags with military clothing and equipments. On her right, the forest. The nearest weapon was a few feet away, on the top of one of the mounts in front of a small tent.

She didn't think too much about it. She let the ropes drop around her and got up. Slowly, as if going to help with the escape preparations, she walked toward the mount of bags. A few second years ran past her without even sparing her a glance. Perfect. She continued to walk toward the bags and the rifle on top of them, hands in the pockets to hide the blood, head high, trying to act natural.

"Hey," someone shouted, "you think we've got the time to be walking around hands in the pockets!?"

Lucy nodded, apologized and walked a bit faster, her hands still in her pockets.

"Are you trying to be funny, you little..."

Lucy cursed when the guy walked toward her with a threatening attitude. He was probably one of Gildarts's lieutenants and was making sure that everybody knew it.

"Hey, wait, you're..."

 _"Finally_ ," Lucy inwardly sighed, " _took him long enough."_

She ran toward the mount of bags and grabbed the rifle with bleeding hands. She pointed it at the soldier following her and shouted him in the shoulder. His screams of pain immediately alerted his companions and Lucy saw several other second years running in her direction. She knelt between two tents, seeking camouflage more than protection, and shot the nearest one. He fell to the ground when the dart planted itself in his knees and Lucy immediately shot the man that was right behind him. A lot more recruits came running toward her when they heard the ruckus she was causing.

"Oh well," she sighed.

Lucy breathed in deeply, time to switch to battle mode. Suddenly, the direction and strength of the wind were data that she needed, she instinctively counted the exact number of enemies and took note of their exact positions. Their voices and screams were as many indications of their mental state, speed and direction. Lucy breathed out, slowly, opened an eye and aimed. In the first minute following her mental preparation, she shot seven recruits on her right side.

Understanding just how dangerous their prisoner really was, the other members of team Gildarts tried to hide behind trees, bushes and tents. But Lucy had already deduced that they would try. She turned around and shot three darts. Without waiting to see if she had hit the bullseye, she turned back around and shot four other darts. Seven more victims. This time, big shots came to help the recruits. Lucy recognized Bacchus and a few other pretty popular second years.

 _"That's my girl!"_ her inner voice shouted. " _See this? This is the enemy recognizing your strength! Shoot them all down, Lucy!"_

Lucy smirked. It did feel good to be in her position at the moment. Bacchus suddenly landed behind her and managed to kick her rifle away when she turned around to aim at him.

"Don't interrupt!" Bacchus ordered his companions. "He's mine!"

He punched her straight in the jaw and she fell, stunned. She groaned and stood back up, massaging her painful jaw. There was a bit of blood on her lips. She cursed and squared off. Bacchus wasn't using a standard guard and she wondered if he was only getting warmed up or if he was already drunk. Which would be pretty horrible for her.

"Don't disappoint me," he half laughed, half growled.

He then pounced at her and she could barely dodge his punch. She didn't even have enough time to turn around before he kicked the back of her legs and made her fall to the ground. She rolled to the side to avoid a new kick and jumped back up, only to be punched again. She cursed and spat blood. Just how fast was this bastard!? His friends cheered and laughed at each blow he landed. Lucy finally got enough and was just going to run at him when her inner voice decided to join in on the fun.

 _"Wait_ ," she ordered as Lucy was getting ready for her final, desperate attack. " _Let me lead this time_."

Lucy frowned, not sure if it was normal for her to argue with herself during a fight. Bacchus smirked when he saw Lucy freeze, visibly taking it for a sign of fear. He pounced on her, once again. And this time too, Lucy had no idea where and how he'd hit her. She closed her eyes and felt her arms shoot up. Something hard collided with them, but she grabbed it and twisted it until she felt the heavy weight of Bacchus fall to the ground. She opened her eyes again and smiled when she saw Bacchus jumping back up, eyes wide with excitement.

 _"See?"_ her inner voice smirked. " _This is how you fight a monster. You have to become even more monstrous than him_."

"Awesome," Lucy breathed, "I might actually be able to win this way."

 _"Yeah, you might_ ," her inner voice agreed. " _Well, old me here is beat, haven't done this much work in a while, you see? It's up to you now, bye!"_

"What?"

The blow she received next, Lucy couldn't remember if it had been a kick or a punch. Bacchus was moving crazily fast and laughing like a possessed hyena all the while. She managed to parry a blow or two, but had generally been turned into a living punching bag.

"Stay down," Bacchus finally sighed. "You're as good as dead right now. I don't even know how many bones I broke..."

Lucy doubted that he had broken any, but the pain was still great, she had to admit. She cursed when she tried to stand back up.

"Why don't you just give up? Nobody would think of it as cowardice, you've done more than enough."

Lucy finally managed to straighten up and smiled.

"I don't care if you and your friends think I'm a coward," she laughed. "I just don't want to be kneeling when _he_ arrives."

Bacchus wasn't smiling anymore as he stared at her, nobody was. They finally recognized her strength and her determination. This was not someone to take lightly.

"Now, that's talking like a soldier," a rough voice laughed.

Lucy didn't even need a second to recognize the voice. She smirked. Finally.

A dart was shot in Bacchus's leg and he fell, growling in pain.

"You took your sweet time," Lucy sang as Gajeel came into view.

"Shut up."

One at a time, all around the base, soldiers of the alliance walked out of the forest and surrounded them. Behind her, someone placed a warm, large, reassuring hand on her shoulder.

"We spent the whole night negotiating with Laxus, planning the attack and searching for you," Natsu explained. "Sorry we took so long."

"No problem," she sighed in relief, a weak smile on her lips.

"You held on well," the commander praised her. "Good job."

Lucy didn't know why he did it, probably feeling a bit too much pressure, but a second year actually shot her at that moment. The commander didn't actually see the dart, but he heard the shot and pulled her behind him. The dart planted itself on his stomach and he growled menacingly. Gray shot the second year and every member of team Natsu pointed their rifle at his comrades to discourage them from firing.

Finally, while everyone was glaring at everyone in a tense atmosphere, Gildarts appeared. He looked pretty calm, hands crossed over his chest, a small smile on his lips.

"Hello there," he greeted Natsu. "I heard that while you were attacking this side of my base, Laxus was attacking the north, trying to free his own prisoner."

"We're not planning to take any prisoner," the commander assured. "We're just taking those two back and we leave."

Lucy frowned.

"What? Why? It's 2 vs 1, you clearly have the upper hand..."

Natsu turned to look at her in the eye. He was tense. Lucy realized that most second years around Gildarts were big shots and Gildarts himself was a living legend. Natsu was trying to leave this place peacefully. Otherwise, and despite the alliance, all hell would break loose here. Gildarts smirked.

"Why should I allow you to take them and leave?" he asked.

The commander smirked back.

"Look around you, Gildarts," he countered. "You're strong enough to take us on, but what about your recruits? You know that if we fight here, it won't be a game anymore. None of us will be able to stop it."

The lieutenant-colonel hesitated. He was tempted to try it, it was obvious. Lucy had no doubt that he would have attacked Natsu had he been alone. But Laxus was here too, and his recruits weren't strong enough to fight that big a battle.

"Fine," he finally said. "Take them and leave. We'll pay you back soon enough for this."

* * *

oOo

* * *

Gray supported Lucy as they walked back to the base. Laxus and his team were going back to their own base and Lucy still didn't know who the prisoner they freed was.

"Where's Loke?" she asked Gray when they were close enough to see the base.

"He stayed there with a team to guard the flag," Gray explained. "He wasn't happy with it, but it was an order."

Right, the flag. The flag they managed to steal thanks to her. She smiled brightly.

"We're just too good," she laughed.

Walking in front of her, Natsu glanced at her over his shoulder, a small, gentle smile on his lips.

"You're just too crazy for your own good," he countered.

"I'm awesome."

The commander arched a brow and turned around completely, opened his mouth to answer with a taunt, but he didn't. Instead he smiled.

"You're right," he admitted. "You really are."

With this, he turned back around and resumed walking. Lucy opened wide eyes.

 _"Wow_ ," her inner voice decided to come back then, " _that was unexpected. I'm sure he's got the hots for you. The boy swings both ways, I tell you. Or he thinks he does. Stop ignoring me, you stupid blonde, do something about it!"_

Lucy kept ignoring her inner voice and spent the rest of the walk lost in her thoughts.

"Luuuuuuuc!"

Lucy dodged Loke's jump and let him fall to the ground, scowling at him.

"Why so cold?" he whined. "You just came back..."

"We need to talk, idiot."

She caught him by the ear and dragged him away from their comrades.

"Are you serious?" Loke asked when Lucy told him about Bacchus.

"Yes, you moron, he heard you call my name! You have to be more careful! We're lucky Bacchus is such a weird dude and no one else heard that."

"Right... sorry, I'll be more careful."

Lucy sighed.

"Ok, sorry for getting angry at you. It's just that things would get really dangerous for me if the wrong person were to hear about me."

"I know," Loke assured, "I think about it all the time, to be honest." He smiled sadly at her. "You can't imagine how scared I am when I imagine you being found out."

Lucy smiled back and patted his hair.

"Don't worry," she said, "even if I'm found out, I have a plan to escape. I won't be caught that easily. Though, my plan to save my father will be ruined."

"Luc!" someone called from the heart of the base. "Hey, idiot! Where are you?"

Lucy sighed.

"I guess I should go see what he wants," she laughed weakly.

Loke followed her back into the base and laughed when he saw Natsu walking toward her, looking like an angry mother.

"Where have you been? I was looking for you. Come on."

Lucy frowned, but still followed him toward the commanding tent. He entered it and held the flap up for her to enter as well.

"Everybody get out," he ordered.

Three or four comrades slowly walked out, hands in the pockets. Natsu sighed.

"I don't know if they're slow or just lazy. Alright, sit there."

She obeyed and he went to rummage through a large white box. He came back to her when he had found everything he wanted.

"Take your shirt off," he ordered.

Lucy instantly froze and probably blushed a bit too.

"Why?" she asked, trying her best to act as if she wasn't very worried.

The commander arched a brow and disposed medical supplies like bandages and compresses on the table.

"I'll patch you up," he pointed to the bandages. "Hurry up, we don't have the whole day."

"I'm fine, don't worry," Lucy protested, "I don't need to be patched up, thanks."

She got up, but the large and powerful hand of the commander landed on her shoulder and pushed her back into her chair.

"I saw your fight with Bacchus," he insisted, "you need to be treated, so stop arguing and strip."

This time, Lucy knew she was starting to blush for real. She tried to hide her face as she got up and made for the door.

"I'm really fine," she assured, "no need to waste any time with this..."

Natsu caught her by the waist and she whined in pain, though she had really tried to hold it back.

"See? You're hurt, so let me help you!"

"Why do you insist?" she retorted. "I already said I didn't need it!"

She pushed him and he finally lost patience.

"Fine," he growled, "I'll just take it off myself."

"What!?"

The commander pushed her back into the chair and grabbed the hem of her shirt before trying to pull it up. Lucy continued to try and push the commander away, only she had to hold her shirt down too.

"Just let me help you!" the commander snapped.

"No way!"

This is the scene Gajeel found when he entered the tent, a very jaded look in his eyes.

"Sorry to interrupt," he said, not sounding sorry at all, "but a messenger is here for you. Seems like the general sent new orders."

Natsu allowed her to stay when the messenger came in to report Makarov's words.

"The game was supposed to go on for three days," he explained, "but the Academy's plans were changed this morning, when the general received a letter from the Octagon. An inspection group composed of members of the Octagon will come to the academy tomorrow for an official inspection. To prepare for their arrival, the Game will end tonight, at 9 p.m. precisely."

The commander frowned.

"Why conduct an inspection?" he asked. "That doesn't make any sense."

"I'm sorry, commander," the messenger said, "I only know what I've been told."

The messenger was escorted back to the path leading to the academy while Natsu gathered his men to tell them about the new end date of the Game.

"You know what this means," he went on, "Gildarts will go all out to take his flag back. Today is the last day, you'll all be involved in the fights. It will be painful, scary and exhausting. If you run away, it'll only mean that you were not fit to be soldiers, you'll be assigned to desk work. The best of you will probably join the Elite Squad at the end of their instruction."

While the commander talked, Lucy stared at Gray. He looked as lazy as usual, as if the whole thing didn't concern him at all. He always looked like that. Actually, not always. Now that she was starting to remember him, she also remembered that there was a time when he wasn't a laid back overgrown brat. She was finally starting to remember the desperate, heartbroken kid that spent some time at the mansion, right before the attack.

Where he came from and what happened to him afterwards, though, she couldn't remember at all. She just knew that he somehow had something to do with the attack. There was a chance that he knew something that could help her find the Pandemonium. But Lucy knew that asking him about this meant telling him the truth about her identity, and she wasn't sure if she really wanted to take such a risk. After all, Gray was a soldier now. And he was Natsu's cousin, he would most probably tell him about her. She sighed. So close and yet so far.

"… And after that, we'll stick to the former plan," the commander concluded. "Any question?"

Lucy opened wide eyes, she hadn't been listening at all. She raised her hand.

"Yes?"

"Sorry, could you repeat what you just said?"

The commander shrugged.

"Sure, what part?"

Lucy smiled sheepishly.

"Everything?"

The preparations took them a few hours and it was already mid-afternoon when they finally took action. Lucy was surprised that everything had been this peaceful, knowing that the Game was coming to an end and all, but the commander warned them: as the day progressed, their enemies were getting ready to attack.

"Stay focused, guys. Keep in mind that they _will_ come and it probably won't be possible for us to escape, as I told you earlier."

Indeed, the commander told them about how Gildarts would wait for the right time to send his men and surround the base. They'll try to make them panic, expecting them to separate, forming several smaller groups.

"This is to be avoided at all costs," the commander told them. "Stick to the plan and try to resist until 9 p.m."

They were presently patrolling around the base and making sure everything was ready for the fight. The commander was sure that no enemy team knew about the exact location of the base, but they would find it eventually. They'd be ready when that time came. Rifle in the hands, Lucy walked between the trees on the west of the base. Everything was quiet at the moment and she thought that she might as well use her time to think about what she should do.

Members of the Octagon were coming for an inspection. How in the world was she going to get away from that? There was absolutely no way that she was staying around to welcome them, but where would she go? She doubted that the inspectors would go as far as checking the lists of students, but the officers would notice it if she ran away without warning. Should she pretend to be sick? Erza would back her up.

 _"Or_ ," her inner voice suddenly sang inside her head, " _you wait for the limo that will bring them to the Academy tomorrow with a handful of grenades or a bazooka and you blast them all up as soon as you see them. You gotta admit that it would solve almost all our problems_."

Tempting. No doubt that it would be pretty satisfying as well.

"Are you ok here?"

Lucy turned around to watch as the commander walked in her direction, jumping above large roots and bushes because he was too lazy to walk around them. She smiled at him and nodded.

"It's quiet," she answered, "not abnormally so."

Natsu nodded and shoved his hands in his pockets when he was standing right beside her.

"Good," he said, "the whole base's still calm. Maybe they won't find us before the end of the Game after all."

That last sentence was just a joke, Lucy knew, so she didn't bother answering it with words. Another smile would do. The commander arched a brow and a small, playful smile appearing on his own face.

"What?"

He shrugged.

"Nothing. I just noticed that you seem to smile a bit more lately. It's nice, I was starting to think that you hated being here. Which would be a shame, seeing that you're a pretty good recruit."

 _"A pretty good recruit, my ass_ ," inner Lucy scoffed. " _Take it from me, honey, he doesn't even care anymore if you're a guy or a girl. Pull his pants down and he'll go along, no problem!"_

Lucy ignored the annoying voice in her head and shrugged, a natural response to anything that she found embarrassing.

"I like it here," she told him, "I only needed some time to adjust, but I'm fine now."

Natsu eyed her attentively and she thought that it would be nice if she was able to look him straight in the eye, just like he did. Not for the first time since the day she had enrolled in the Academy, she thought that the commander really felt familiar. There was something about the way he always put on a tough front and how, at the same time, his presence was so reassuring that made her think that it'd be so nice if she could trust him completely. How relieving would it be to tell him all her secrets and rely on him, even just a bit.

There was no way she was doing any of that, obviously.

"Good," he nodded, "good. You know that you can count on me if anything's wrong, right?"

She smiled again and, maybe she imagined it, but it seemed like the expression on his face changed a bit when she did.

 _"You're not imagining it, honey_ ," her inner voice sneered. " _Be careful when you're alone with him, I'm sure he's a pervert! He'll pounce on you the moment you look elsewhere!"_

It usually was much easier to ignore her inner voice, because its words were mostly honest reflexions of her own thoughts. This time, though, she started to wonder if she had a dissociative identity disorder.

 _"No, you don't_ ," her inner voice answered, " _you're just tired and hungry_."

Lucy was brought back to reality when she noticed that the commander was staring at her, an interrogative expression on his face.

"I'm sorry, what?"

He stared at her dumbly for a second and chuckled.

"Are you still dreaming?" he joked. "I was telling you that, when we both have time, I'd like to talk a bit more about the letter I received. I heard from Loke that you got one too."

What? Lucy tried her very best not to react at this, but she didn't know that Loke had found her letter. And she would never have imagined that he would speak to Natsu about such an important matter before talking to her.

"Listen," he went on, "I know you didn't intend to lie to me, but something serious is going on, we need to know what's coming for us. I need you to trust me on this, you're not the only one who's being threatened here."

Lucy felt sick. Her own letter hadn't been seriously threatening, just a friendly warning. But Natsu had been threatened? And by _her_? Now, this was a catastrophe. It was even worse than the visit of the Octagon members.

"She wanted you to get away from me, right?"

The commander frowned at her.

"What?"

"The author of the letter wanted you to leave me alone, right?"

His eyes darkened, his jaw contracted.

"Ok, who's she and what does she want with you?"

Lucy closed her eyes and cursed, hands going to clutch at the back of her neck. This really was horrible. There was no way she was staying at the Academy now. If _she_ killed Natsu, they would conduct an investigation and it would lead them to her, sooner or later. In the end, her father would never be saved and Natsu would be dead. She opened her eyes and sighed. There was only one thing for her to do now.

"Don't worry," she told the commander, "I'll explain everything to you when the Game's over. I won't hide a thing."

He stared at her with doubtful eyes and hesitated. In the end, he agreed to wait for the end of the Game and Lucy felt guilty. He shouldn't trust her so easily. Because at the end of the Game, she would take her stuff and run away from the Academy.

* * *

 **End of chapter 14**

Hello everyone! I know I made you all wait, but here's the new chapter! As you noticed, some important questions are starting to get elements of answers. Though, we're still only at the beginning of the story, the very important stuff has yet to appear. I can imagine that you finished reading the chapter even more confused than when you started it, even despite the hints I gave you. Well, I can only tell you to be patient, haha!

I tried to answer as many reviews as I could lately, but I didn't manage to find enough time to answer all of them. I did read them all, they made me smile and laugh sometimes. I'm really grateful to everyone who took the time to leave a review and favorited/followed the story.

More good stuff coming soon!

* * *

 **Preview**

Gildarts attacked a few minutes after Lucy had this talk with her commander. First, they threw several dozens of smoke grenades to blind Natsu's men. Then, the soldiers of the first line entered the camp and started shooting. Whatever some people may say, psychology _is_ important at war. Seeing Gildarts's men running inside the base, all of them wearing gas masks, confused and even scared some of Natsu's recruits. The commander hadn't lied when he had said that the last confrontation wouldn't look like a game anymore.

The deafening noise of dozens of rifles firing simultaneously hurt Lucy's ears and made her heart beat awfully fast. In all honesty, she had absolutely no control over the situation. The commander wasn't with her anymore, her friends were nowhere to be seen. All around her, people were running, crawling, firing at others.


	15. Chapter 15: Damaged alter ego

**PART I – Resolution**

Chapter XV – Damaged alter ego

* * *

" _I'm done losing. Do you fucking hear me? I am done losing. Spare me your precious self-pity, because this isn't a stage and I didn't pay two coppers to cry my eyes out over anyone's death speech. You don't fucking get one, understand? I don't care if you cough up buckets of blood. Buckets I can carry."_

 _\- Scott Lynch, The Republic of Thieves_

* * *

Gildarts attacked a few minutes after Lucy had this talk with her commander. First, they threw several dozens of smoke grenades to blind Natsu's men. Then, the soldiers of the first line entered the camp and started shooting. Whatever some people may say, psychology _is_ important at war. Seeing Gildarts's men running inside the base, all of them wearing gas masks, confused and even scared some of Natsu's recruits. The commander hadn't lied when he had said that the last confrontation wouldn't look like a game anymore.

The deafening noise of dozens of rifles firing simultaneously hurt Lucy's ears and made her heart beat awfully fast. In all honesty, she had absolutely no control over the situation. The commander wasn't with her anymore, her friends were nowhere to be seen. All around her, people were running, crawling, firing at others. A dart was shot at her, but missed its target and grazed her nose. She jumped back and crouched behind a tree. A small drop of blood ran down her cheek from her injured nose, but she ignored it. She was too focused on the chaos around her.

Suddenly, she was a five year old girl again, hiding from soldiers rampaging through her home and killing her friends. Her hands clutched the sides of her neck and head as she rocked back and forth, trying to block out the sounds.

"Stop it," she sobbed to herself, "stop it, stop it, stop it. I beg you, stop it..."

 _"They won't stop."_

Lucy opened her eyes and realized that she was crying.

 _"They didn't stop at that time,"_ the voice went on, " _they won't stop this time either. They're soldiers, they haven't changed."_

Lucy sobbed even more. She knew it was the truth: they wouldn't stop until they had completely obliterated their targets.

 _"But you know who else haven't changed? You. You're still a pathetic, weak little girl who can't move an inch even as her friends are being beaten right under her nose. You should just dig a hole somewhere and die in it."_

Another smoke bomb exploded somewhere near her and she flinched.

 _"Why are you suddenly scared of explosions? You've heard lots of them at training! You're being over dramatic, get yourself together!"_

Lucy sniffed and wiped her nose and eyes with her sleeves.

"Why should I? You just told me to go die..."

 _"It was only to wake you up! Did you come this far to cry and hide just because a game got a bit too realistic for you? Is your determination this weak!? What would your father say if he saw you like that! Do you want to learn at the end of the day that while you were hiding, Natsu lost the flag and Loke's condition worsened!? Do you want to look at yourself in the mirror and see a coward!?"_

Right, she wasn't five years old anymore, she wasn't barehanded anymore. She wiped the last tears running down her cheeks and stood back up, readying her rifle. It wasn't the first time that she found herself in a dire situation, it wasn't like her to break down in tears like that!

 _"That's right, girl! This is actually the perfect chance for you to see what you're capable of! Your friends are in there, go and help them!"_

Lucy nodded to herself. Even if it hadn't only been a game, she would have had no reason to hide and cry like a coward! She had been training all this time in preparation for that!

 _"Look to your left."_

She did and saw a recruit wearing Gildarts' team's uniform pointing his rifle at the back of another recruit. He hadn't seen her. She shot him and it was as if some door had been unlocked in her mind. In the very next second, she was walking back inside the base, engulfed in the smoke. She covered her mouth and nose with her scarf and kept walking forward, rifle at the ready. Since she couldn't rely on her eyesight too much, Lucy focused on her hearing to locate and identify the people around her. The sound of their voice told her who they were, the intensity where they were.

Lucy recognized Gajeel and went to help him get rid of several enemies. After what he ran to the west of the base to help the recruits fight a large group of enemies. Lucy made for the commanding tent. There, she found Gray, fighting like a true warrior god. He was using both his rifle and hands to fight about eight or nine opponents on his own. Hitting their heads with the stock, kicking their knees, elbowing their jaws or kneeing them in the groins, all the while shooting darts. They had never been taught such a way of fighting.

Gray ended up seeing her and pointed at the tent.

"Natsu's inside!" he said. "Go help him!"

She didn't need to be told twice. As she ran to the tent, rain started to pour down on the base and the earth got slippery. Lucy still reached the tent in less time than it takes to say it and barged inside, throwing all safety rules to the trash. What she saw inside froze her on the spot. Natsu was just in front of her, showing her his back, the enemy flag in his left hand. In his right hand, a gun was pointed at the enemies. Gildarts was standing right in front of them. Beside him were Bacchus, Ren and Orga, all three of them known to be some of the strongest second years of the academy. The commander glanced at her over his shoulder, for a second only, and let go of the flag.

"Take it and run," he ordered.

Lucy stared at his back, he wasn't going to turn around to face her.

"You take it and run," she countered, "I'll hold them back."

Natsu scoffed, but still didn't turn.

"Oh yeah? You will face a lieutenant-colonel and three second years on your own? Stop saying nonsense and obey my orders, for a change!"

 _"The taciturn commandant has a point_ ," her inner voice noted.

Lucy thought about the best thing to do, remembered that she didn't have much time to do so, decided that it was best to act without thinking. She shouldered her rifle and shot Gildarts in the leg. The lieutenant-colonel roared in pain and gripped his painful leg. The commander abruptly turned around to stare at her, eyes filled with disbelief.

"Why the hell did you do that!?"

She shrugged.

"I'm not sure," she admitted, "but I'm pretty sure it would be a very bad idea for me to run away now that I've shot him."

"Yeah, well done, idiot," the commander groaned, "you won't get out of this unscathed."

 _"Yeah, well done, honey_ ," her inner voice cheered. " _What you just did was stupid, but very amusing!"_

Natsu kicked the nearest table down and dragged Lucy behind it with him. The darts shot by Gildarts's men planted themselves in the wood and Lucy heard the lieutenant-colonel order them to take cover. They weren't fast enough, though. Lucy and the commander managed to hit all three of them with darts. Orga was the least affected by the fluid contained within the darts, he only winced and hissed when he was hit.

"Now!" Natsu pushed her toward the exit and this time she ran without trying to talk back.

The commander grabbed the flag and followed her out, running just as fast. Outside, it was almost impossible to see where they were going with the rain falling so hard. They were running on deep mud, trying to avoid enemies as they progressed toward the escape route they had prepared earlier. As they were nearing their starting point very quickly, Lucy felt the sting of a dart as it planted itself in her shoulder. She yelped in pain and tripped, her body falling into a large puddle of mud.

Strong arms helped her back to her feet and pulled the dart out. Lucy was surprised to see that the commander had stopped to help her. This wasn't part of the escape plan at all: the one who had the flag ran for the escape route and never turned around, never stopped.

"Are you ok?" he yelled to be heard over the rain, screams and gunfire.

She nodded and he gave her the flag to inspect her body, quickly searching for any wound, before she forced herself to start running again. They were so many enemies coming after them... The commander ran too, but he clearly slowed his pace to match hers and regularly turned around to shoot enemies. All of a sudden, a powerful explosion was felt very near and Lucy stared dumbfounded at the huge tree that was falling in her direction. Natsu pulled her out of the way when it landed and separated them from their pursuers.

"What the hell was that!?" the commander shouted to Gajeel, who was laughing like a mad man not far from them.

"Loke just lit sticks of dynamite and nailed them to the trunk," he explained, still laughing, "he almost crushed all those idiots running after you, but it was one hell of a sight!"

Loke? He had blown the whole thing up to buy them time? That boy was just as crazy as she was. The commander pulled on her shoulder and pointed to the escape route, Lucy resumed running and jumped in the bushes that were hiding the escape route, the commander on her heels. She was tired, in pain, cold and dirty. But she still had the flag, she had just shot the infamous lieutenant-colonel Gildarts Clive, and was running toward God knew where, the pouring rain wiping her face. And she wanted to laugh in anticipated victory. She sped up despite the risk of falling on the very slippery mud and the commander called for her, worried that she was forcing herself. She didn't slow down, enjoying the cold wind on her cold limbs, the violence of the rain falling on her like a million of needles, the ache in her legs and arms. It felt good to be alive. And free.

A moment later, though, she heard something heavy crash to the ground and she hit the brakes to turn around. Orga had caught up to them and had jumped on the commander's back, they were fighting in the mud. At some point, Natsu kicked Orga over his head and the tall second year realized right away that he was now closer to her. And to the flag. He smirked and jumped back up, running toward her. Lucy's smile vanished.

 _"Now would be a good time to resume running_ ," her inner voice noted.

And so she did. She didn't have the luxury to wait for the commander to stand back up and come to help her, so she ran. Her legs burnt with the effort, her lungs were on the verge of exploding, but she kept running. She could hear the heavy, quick breathing of her pursuer as he was catching up to her, but she still kept running with all her strength, not even stopping to breathe or to look behind her.

If you already tried running at full speed and continued running even after you've exhausted all your energy, despite the pain in your legs and the lack of air in your lungs, then you know how Lucy felt. You know the feeling of being disconnected from the earth somehow, the feeling of floating on a sea of clouds. When you reach that point, you can keep running without feeling any pain or fatigue. Not forever, obviously, but you've exceeded your limits and it makes you feel so, so good.

That was when Orga finally caught up to her and jumped forward to catch her by her waist. They fell to the ground and added more mud to their already very mud-covered bodies. Lucy almost threw up when the adrenaline suddenly escaped her body. Suddenly, she had absolutely no strength left, she could barely breathe.

"Damn, you're fast," Orga panted, "did you eat an electric battery or what?"

Lucy cursed, breathless, her whole body aching. She couldn't run anymore, but she could protect the flag until Natsu caught up to them. She separated the pole and the flag and stuffed the fabric inside her shirt, under the military jacket. Orga eyed her skeptically, arching a brow and tilting his head to the side.

"You think that will stop me?"

She coughed, still trying to get her breath back, and shook her head.

"No," she answered. "I'll have to fight back."

Orga stared at her for a minute and shrugged.

"Yeah, well, good luck with that."

Natsu caught up in less than two minutes, but Lucy was already suffering from blood loss and several superficial, but painful injuries after blunt trauma. The commander knocked Orga out with one kick straight in the head. The kneeled right by Lucy's side and helped her sit up.

"Where are you hurt?" he asked.

She was clinging to her stomach and he opened her jacket and lifted her shirt, only to find that she had been hiding the flag underneath her clothes. He froze, took the fabric and his fists tightened around it.

"Don't tell me you got yourself beaten up like that just to protect that thing," he growled.

Lucy nodded weakly, her split lips too painful for her to speak.

"Why? It was just a game, idiot, it wasn't worth being hurt!"

Lucy licked her lips, which caused her a lot of pain and made her taste her own blood.

"I was... trying to make up for what I did yesterday," she explained, her voice a faint whisper.

"What?"

If Lucy had been her usual, not beaten up self, she might have thought that sitting in the middle of their escape route, with enemies not far behind them, was a bad idea. But she was tired and felt more vulnerable than usual and Natsu was here, his presence shielding her from the cold rain and the howling wind that she didn't enjoy anymore.

"I put you all in danger when I chased after the fake flag," she explained. "I felt so stupid and guilty. I wanted to make it up to you."

Tears burned her eyes and this time, no inner voice came to tell her she looked pathetic. She still didn't want him to see her cry, so she wiped her eyes and nose furiously, ignoring the pain it caused her to move her arms like that. It took her a few more seconds to realize that the commander hadn't said a thing yet. She lifted her eyes and saw his intense eyes staring at her. His face was serious, but not tense or angry. And suddenly, before Lucy's brain could even register that he had moved, his comforting, strong arms were around her and she was pulled against him.

"What..."

Her head automatically went to rest on his shoulder as she couldn't resist the need to lean into his warm, gentle and unexpected embrace.

"I don't care about the flag," he told her, "I don't care about winning the game or defeating Gildarts or anybody. You don't need to make anything up to me either. Never do something like that again."

Lucy nodded in his arms, feeling his warmth travel through their clothes and gently engulf her. She heard him sigh deeply and shifted a bit in his arms. Suddenly, she had her ear pressed to his heart and noticed that it was beating really fast. After a short moment, they heard voices from somewhere behind them. The escape route had been found. They left Orga where he was and slowly walked toward their hiding spot.

Lucy was still in too much pain to run, but their pursuers were catching up quickly. Natsu turned around and cursed when he saw that they indeed were in deep shit. He caught Lucy's arm and gently tugged on it to stop her. His eyes were bright with vitality, raindrops ran down his face from the flattened strands of his pink hair.

"We won't make it like that," he explained, "I'll have to carry you."

"Or you could just take the flag and run," she suggested.

Natsu arched a brow at her and smirked.

"And have you collapse as soon as I'm away? No. And what kind of commander would I be if I abandoned a recruit that showed such devotion to me? Hold on tight."

Her arms around his neck, she let him carry her: a hand on her back, the other under her knees.

"Are you ok?" Natsu asked. "Is it too painful?"

She shook her head, still feeling groggy from Orga's blows.

"I'll be fine," she assured.

"You better be," Natsu mumbled before setting off.

Lucy bit back her whimpers and tears and did her best to bear with the pain. Natsu ran as fast as he could until he found the tree they had marked earlier. From that point on, he had to leave the path and run through the tall grasses. He took sharp turns, jumped above large roots, slipped on the mud and cursed when the rain blinded him, but all the while making sure that he was never hurting Lucy. To be honest, he didn't exactly manadge to do that, but at least he tried. After a few more minutes of running, they found the cave. Jet had found it the day before and decided to explore it. Turned out that the cave was very well hidden from the path and deep enough to hide two or three adult men if they crouched down. Natsu gently lay her down inside the cave and entered it after her to shield her from the wind and the cold. He glanced at his watch and sighed.

"Less than two hours left," he said. "You think you'll be ok?"

Lucy nodded, but truth to be said, she was getting more tired with each passing second.

"Your lips are blue," the commander noted. "Just how cold are you?"

She shook her head.

"I'm fine," she assured. "I'm not cold or anything."

"Right," he scoffed, "and I don't have pink hair."

He unzipped his jacket and took it off. The thing was soaking wet too, Lucy appreciated the gesture, but it wouldn't keep her warm at all. That was when he also shrugged his sweatshirt off, offering her a nice view of the nothing he was wearing underneath it.

"It will be too large for you," he admitted, "but it's dry, so it should keep you warm."

Lucy shook her head, already knowing that he would ignore her protests.

"No, you should keep it on," she argued, "you'll catch a cold if you only wear your drenched jacket..."

"Be quiet and put it on. And rest assured, I won't put my jacket on either. Not before it dried a little."

How was this supposed to reassure her? She was now worried about both his health and her sanity. Either way, she couldn't help but want to have a quick look. She put his sweatshirt on and was surprised at how appeasing his smell was. He had just been running and fighting, shouldn't the thing stink of sweat? Well, whatever, it really was warm and comfortable, despite being too large.

"Thanks," she mumbled.

He stared at her with confused eyes, coughed and massaged the back of his neck.

"Yeah, no problem. You should try to get some sleep while we're here. I'll guard the entrance."

He didn't even wait for an answer before turning around to face the forest. Lucy didn't try to resist sleep either, she took a deep breath in and drifted off to sleep. She didn't remember dreaming of anything, but she did remember the moment when the sweatshirt stopped being enough to block the cold. She also remembered the new source of warmth that cocooned her afterwards, though she was far too tired to worry about its origin.

She woke up two hours later to the sight of the commander's soft smiling face, the moonlight giving his skin a silvery complexion and making his hair look almost white. His face was completely relaxed now and his eyes told her he was tired, but soothed.

"It's over," he told her, "we won."

* * *

oOo

* * *

Natsu had to put his wet jacket back on to attend the teams gathering, but he didn't mind it much. Lucy would forever remember the faces of the members of the team when they saw the commander and her come back with the flag in her hands. She would forever remember the cries of sheer joy of her comrades, some of them actually cried tears of happiness. They were hugged, kissed, congratulated, thanked and their wounds were treated quickly.

"You all did very well," the commander smiled, "I'm proud of you."

The general was here too. He congratulated the winning teams and asked the officers to come back to his office with him.

"I'm sure you're all exhausted," he said, "we'll hold a proper ceremony for the winners the day after tomorrow, since we'll have an inspection from the Octagon tomorrow. But tonight, please, eat, drink, party and sleep to your heart's content!"

Lucy stayed with her friends for a moment. She wanted to enjoy their cheerful presence for a bit longer. She listened to Gray as he told them how he had taken on a dozen of second years by himself, she laughed when Loke described the faces of the enemies who saw him light the sticks of dynamite, she teased Gajeel, who told them that he had been disappointed by the lack of strong opponents. She answered many questions about her race against Gildarts and his lieutenants, about Orga, about her wounds, about what it felt like to be the one that brought the flag back. And the truth was that she was overwhelmed by it. The feelings possessing her at the moment were amazing and she could have been weak enough to decide to stay, had she allowed herself to truly sink into them.

"Where are you going?" Loke whined when he saw her walk away. "Makarov just told us to party!"

She smiled brightly at him. He looked better now that the Game had ended, she hadn't seen him cough at all.

"I'm just going to go see Erza," she explained, "I think one of my bandages need to be redone. I'll come back right away."

Loke then smiled back, nodded and told her he'd be waiting for her.

 _"Ooh, what a naughty liar,"_ her inner voice chuckled, " _you're not even going to say goodbye?"_

How could she? Leaving the Academy was one of the hardest decisions she ever had to take. She was heartbroken. She wiped a stray tear and took a deep breath in. It was not like she had a choice, might as well do it quickly. She walked a bit faster until she was standing in front of the main building. She didn't hesitate and entered. She ran up the stairs and along the corridor to the door of her bedroom. She pulled her large back from under her bed and started packing her things. She had to wipe her eyes and nose a few times in the process, but she was done quicker than she expected. She turned around to exit the room and froze when she saw that someone was leaning on the doorway, arms crossed over his chest.

"You going somewhere?" the commander asked. "It's not the weekend yet, you need an authorization to leave the academy."

Lucy gulped, slowly stood back up and shouldered her bag. It could have been anyone: Loke coming to get something from the room, another recruit passing in front of the open door, Erza or Mira, coming to see how she was. But it was Natsu. The commander looked tense, his eyes were cold and his jaw contracted.

"I don't need an authorization to leave if it's permanently," she timidly retorted.

The commander's hard look stayed on her for a moment before he sighed, checked if the corridor was empty and invited himself inside, closing the door behind him.

"Sit," he ordered.

"I don't want to talk about..."

"I told you to sit," he repeated, almost growling. "I won't let you leave before you explain yourself."

Now, this angered her. Who did he think he was? A commander? So what? Not everything could be solved with authority, not everyone would obey him just because he ordered them to. Couldn't he see that she was doing this for him!?

"I couldn't care less about what you want me to do," she groaned. "I'm leaving the Academy, you're not my superior anymore and I don't have anything to tell you."

She walked toward the door with angry steps and lifted her arm to turn the handle. Natsu grabbed her arm and pushed her against the wall, looking pissed off.

"Until you tell the general that you're officially resigning," he growled, "I'm still your superior and even if I weren't, I'd still deserve an explanation."

Lucy gritted her teeth, fighting the inner growing anger that was threatening to break out.

"In the name of what!?" she yelled. "Lots of recruits gave up and left! Nobody tried to stop them, so why are you here!?"

"Those recruits weren't among the victors of the Academy's Game!" he snapped back. "They weren't as talented as you, nor as determined! You gave everything you had to protect the flag today, you fought with everything you had during those two days! Your behavior doesn't make any sense!"

"Yeah, well," she tried to push him off, but he didn't bulge, "that's the way it is. Accept it and let me out."

"No."

Lucy glared at the angry commander and tried to push him off once more, using more strength this time.

"What do you mean, no? I'm not asking for your permission here!"

"You promised to tell me the truth about the letter," he answered. "I'm now absolutely sure that you're trying to run away because of it. I want an explanation."

Lucy stopped pushing him. Her eyes were wide and she was suddenly overwhelmed by anxiety. They heard laughs and voices out in the corridor and waited for them to fade away. The commander grabbed her arm and pulled her to him.

"We can't have this conversation here," he grumbled, "Loke could come back at any time."

He opened the door and dragged her out of the room.

"We're going to my room," he told her, "you can keep your bag if you want, but you'll have to give me a proper explanation before I let you leave."

Lucy hesitated. She could still scream and make a ruckus to force the commander to let go of her. But it would attract too much attention and she probably wouldn't be able to leave without telling anyone, as she had planned. And she wasn't entirely sure that the author of the letter would leave him alone even if she left. Maybe she should warn him about _her_ before leaving. After all, he would gladly let her leave after he heard about _her_. No one wanted to have a crazy chemist torturer threatening them. So, she followed him in silence as they climbed down some stairs and turned left at the end of a corridor that was never used by simple recruits. The door of his bedroom was as white as the walls and the rest of the building and he opened it without hesitation.

"Come in," he told her.

She obeyed and he followed her inside before closing the door behind him.

"No one will bother us here," he said. "You can drop your bag in a corner."

She dropped it near his bed, which wasn't larger than her own, and stood where she was. She was trying to think of a way to tell Natsu about _her_ without telling him about her real identity, which proved to be very difficult. His room was a bit smaller than her own, but there was only one bed in it, he didn't have to share it with anybody.

"You can sit on the bed," he told her, "the chair is broken."

She did, feeling nauseous.

"Do you want some water?"

She shook her head, still not meeting his eyes. In the end, she had to hope that he'd allow her to keep some secrets.

"Then," he started, "about that letter..."

"Before that," Lucy interrupted him, finally lifting her eyes, "I need to know what was written in your letter."

The commander leaned on the door and grimaced.

"Believe me, you don't want to know."

"It doesn't matter if I want to know or not," she retorted, "I have to know."

The commander stared at her for a long moment, inwardly debating about the best thing to do. He ended up slowly pushing himself off the door and walked toward the small nightstand by his bed. He opened the wobbly drawer and pulled a white envelope out of it. Lucy didn't move an inch, but didn't miss a single thing he did either. She saw the contraction of his jaw, of the muscles of his neck and shoulders, she saw his hands tightened around the letter. He looked at her and handed her the offensive little thing. Lucy opened it with shaky fingers. The content wasn't very poetic, but Lucy hadn't expected anything else from that person.

 _''To the bastard commander,_

 _I will tell you this only once: this is the only warning you'll get. Stay away from my sweet little bird, you filthy, horny dog. Son of a bitch and a pork, your dirty hands better not leave a stain on my little treasure. If you ignore this warning, I'll personally come for you and tear your limbs off your foul body. Then I'll burn your eyes and give them to the dogs, break your bones, and make you go through such suffering you'll beg me to kill you._

 _I don't know what name my little bird uses in your wicked academy, but you know very well who I'm talking about: you pounced on her like a fucking beast in heat during the test of fear, you nasty rascal! Do that again, and I won't even allow you to die._

 _Don't interfere._

 _K.''_

Lucy gulped and slowly put the letter down on the bed.

"Charming, as you can see," Natsu laughed humorlessly.

"I'm so sorry..."

"You have no reason to be," he retorted.

Lucy read the letter a second time, the only hint about her true identity was a pronoun: ''her'', near the end of the letter. But it was possible that Natsu had overlooked it, seeing how the rest of the letter was so creepy. The commander didn't rush her, he gave her all the time she needed to formulate coherent sentences and she was grateful to him.

"The author is a woman," she started, "she's a torturer that specialises in chemistry and usually works on secret projects under the orders of important people from powerful organizations such as governmental and intergovernmental organizations, some NGOs as well."

Natsu didn't interrupt her, but she could see in his eyes that he was perfectly aware of just how dangerous the author of that letter was. Lucy shifted awkwardly on the bed, still feeling a bit nauseous, and took a deep breath in.

"Her name is Kyoka, though it's probably an alias. She... one of her current jobs is to interrogate special prisoners. I'm considered as an accomplice to one of those prisoners and since he refuses to talk, she has to find me and bring me back to her employer. She's a very dangerous person, don't doubt her word when she says she will kill you."

Lucy stopped her explanations there, hoping that the commander would be satisfied with that much. The commander kept silent for a long moment, eyes glued to the floor, arms crossed over his chest. Lucy sighed, she wasn't surprised that he was this scared, it was a normal reaction. She stood up from the bed and took her bag.

"Don't worry," she smiled weakly as she walked toward the door, "she won't have any reason to come for you if I'm gone." She grabbed the handle and opened the door. "You'll be safe..."

She was interrupted when the commander's powerful arm shot up and slammed the door shut. Lucy froze and her eyes finally found Natsu's. He was really close to her now that she was standing in front of the door. He didn't look angry at all, but she could see in his eyes that he wasn't letting her go just yet.

"It's rude to leave before the other person got a chance to say anything," he pointed out.

She sighed and looked at him with sad eyes.

"What more is there to say? You don't have to do anything, commander, no one would try in your position."

Surprisingly, and despite the terrifying revelations, he smirked and leaned back against the door, efficiently blocking her only way out.

"Well, I still have something to say," he declared. "First, I'm now absolutely sure that I wasn't wrong when I noticed something funny, a while ago. But it's not really important right now. Secondly, a lot of people tried to kill me before, do I look dead to you?"

She shook her head and his smirk morphed into the gentle smile she was starting to see more and more on his face.

"One day," he said, "I'll tell you about my life before I was hired here. You'll understand why I'm absolutely not scared of this Kyoka person even one bit. For now, there's not much I can do about this, but I can make a promise: as long as you stay near me, no one will be able to harm you. And I'm starting to know you really well now, so I'm sure that you're still thinking of running away, so let me make things easier for you. If you run away, I'll track you down and drag you back by the skin of your neck, got it?"

Lucy stared at him with wide eyes, not finding the words. They were different, Natsu and her, and argued on a daily basis. He was rough, rude, cold, distant, a brute who always teased her. And yet, thinking about it, she had to admit that they were very similar too. They had similar tempers, similar principles and beliefs, similar wounds, both visible and invisible. She knew he still had a million of questions to ask her, she could see it in the way his hands twitched nervously, in the way he was looking at her: with so much expectation. But he stopped asking questions, he'd do with what he had managed to get for now. And he'd protect her, it was a promise. She couldn't help the relieved smile that illuminated her face, nor the impulse that made her reach out to hug him.

"Thank you..."

He hugged her back and she felt him move slightly so his chin could rest on her head. His heart was beating fast, but she felt calm, warm and safe.

"You're welcome."

Their embrace didn't last long and Lucy decided that she should go back to her room in case Loke was already there, freaking out.

"Good idea," the commander nodded. "Don't forget to get up earlier tomorrow. The inspection will start pretty early."

When she went back to her room, she found it empty and put all her things back in the wardrobe before Loke came back. She fell asleep quickly, her heart feeling lighter than it had in years. When she woke up, the following morning, she laughed at the sight of her roommate: laying half naked on top of his sheets, his hair sticking out in improbable angles. She threw her pillow at him.

"Wake up, princess," she called, "we have to get ready."

Loke threw her pillow back at her and buried his head underneath his own

"Don't wanna," he grumbled. "Five more minutes..."

"Right," Lucy scoffed, "I'm going ahead then."

She got up and got ready in less time than it takes to say it. Loke was still lying in bed when she exited the bathroom and she threw him another pillow before leaving the bedroom. She walked slowly, hands in her pockets, feeling calmer than ever. Some other recruits were already walking toward the refectory.

"The inspection's today, right?" one of them asked. "I wonder what they're looking for."

"Yes," another one answered, "it's weird that they'd come all of a sudden."

Lucy barely listened to them and turned right when they turned left. She wasn't going to the refectory. She climbed down the stairs and walked toward the doors. Outside, it was colder than usual, you could feel that winter would be here soon. She smiled as she walked toward the medical wing. Once inside, she immediately went left and climbed the stairs up before walking down a long corridor. She stopped in front of he door of a medical office she knew too well. She knocked and was invited in.

"Hello, Lucy," Erza greeted her. "I heard from Mira that you were amazing during the Game."

Lucy smiled and went to sit in front of her friend's desk, shrugging.

"I did my best," she humbly answered.

"You really did," Erza hummed. "The members of the Octagon that are coming today would probably be delighted to meet you."

Lucy's smile never faltered, she knew where this was coming.

"Maybe they would," she agreed.

Erza sighed in mock disappointment.

"That's too bad, though," she went on, "you won't be able to be present for the investigation."

Lucy's smile widened.

"I won't?"

Erza slowly stood up and stretched, obviously feeling very satisfied with herself.

"Nope," she confirmed. "I've been called by people from the south district. Apparently, there was an accident, but since the district isn't renowned for being the safest place on Earth, they asked for a military doctor to go. I obviously can't go there on my own, though, so I'm requisitioning you to protect me while I'm there."

"Well," Lucy shrugged, still smiling, "if it's an order, it can't be helped."

"It is," the doctor confirmed. "Get ready, we're leaving in an hour."

* * *

 **End of chapter 15**

Guess who's back really early? Don't get used to it, though, it probably won't happen anymore before a long time!

As promised, things are getting more interesting, and the upcoming chapters will be just as intense!

Once again, don't hesitate to tell me what you've thought of this chapter, I happily read all the reviews!

I'll be back as soon as possible!

* * *

 **Preview**

She turned around and saw a small shadow on the wall. She waited for a minute, the cold biting at her fingers and nose. Then, the small silhouette of the counsellor of the Octagon appeared. Lucy frowned at him, seeing as his smirk as he walked toward her.

"May I help you, sir?" she asked.

She heard his sinister laugh as he got closer to her.

"Oh, I'm sure you can," he assured.

Lucy got a bad feeling and, even if the midget wouldn't be able to physically harm her, took a subtle step back.

"Actually," he went on, "you're going to make me rich and powerful."

Lucy's frown deepened. Was he trying to bribe her or something? Was it normal for people from the HQ to try and corrupt recruits? She took another step back and his smirk widened.

"After all," he growled in euphoria, "it is normal to reward the man who, after years of tracking her down, finally found the daughter of Jude Heartfilia! Isn't that right, Lucy!?"


	16. Chapter 16: What killed the cat

**PART I – Resolution**

Chapter XVI – What killed the cat

* * *

" _Catherine Earnshaw, may you not rest as long as I am living. You said I killed you-haunt me then. The murdered do haunt their murderers. I believe-I know that ghosts have wandered the earth. Be with me always-take any form-drive me mad. Only do not leave me in this abyss, where I cannot find you! Oh, God! It is unutterable! I cannot live without my life! I cannot live without my soul!"  
― Emily Brontë, Wuthering Heights_

* * *

 _*14 years earlier, the abandoned Light Ranch, north of the Heartfilia estate.*_

* * *

 _"Here we are!" the boy cheered with a wide, bright grin. "The ranch! I think everyone will be hella mad at me since I just ran off on my own, but don't worry, they won't hurt me. Not severely, at least."_

 _Lucy's smile vanished. She didn't want him to be hurt. The ranch was a pretty large, but obviously badly maintained farm with no animals and high fences all around. The boy kicked the wooden doors open and they creaked under the impact._

 _"Gramps!" he called loudly. "I'm back!"_

 _He turned around to stare at the girls and crouched to look Lucy in the eye._

 _"I forgot to mention it, but it's better if you don't tell them about what I did to that soldier," he whispered. "They'll seriously freak out if we tell them, you see?"_

 _Lucy immediately nodded, she would have told a thousand lies to help him, but Michelle eyed him sceptically._

 _"I don't think it's reasonable to hide such an important thing from them," she muttered._

 _The boy flashed her his most reassuring grin and stood back up._

 _"I won't hide it forever," he assured, "I'll just wait for them to calm down before telling them. If I tell them now, they'll definitely kill me."_

 _In the very next second, before he could even turn around, a large silhouette appeared behind him and a huge hand suddenly entirely grasped his head. The boy was lifted off the ground, yelling and kicking blindly._

 _"You," the man growled, "are you prepared for punishment?"_

 _"Wait, old thug, I didn't run away just for fun! I was working too!"_

 _An evil laugh was heard from the large man holding the boy._

 _"What a big mouth you have," he smirked. "Well, fine. If you want to work like a man, you'll accept your punishment like a man, too."_

 _The tall man was still smirking evilly and teasing the boy when he felt something soft hit his leg repeatedly. He glanced down and found a little blond head punching him. Near her, a taller girl was glaring at him and observing his every movement, probably making sure he wasn't going to hit the smaller girl. His eyes went back to the shrimp that was hitting him and he arched a brow._

 _"What are you doing?" he asked._

 _Lucy glared at him and he couldn't help but think that she looked adorable when angry._

 _"Let him go!" she ordered. "I won't let you punish him, old thug!"_

 _Michelle actually had to hold back her laughter upon hearing this. Old thug? Lucy probably had no idea what that meant, but she wanted to talk like her new friend. The man holding the boy changed his grip on the boy so that he was holding him by the collar of his shirt and glared at him._

 _"See what you've done? You're a bad example for kids!"_

 _The boy laughed wholeheartedly and winked at Lucy._

 _"Well done, Luce! Kick his ass, he won't be able to do a thing against you!"_

 _Lucy was beaming with pride, even while the tall man started to glare at her friend and threaten him to feed him to the worms._

 _"What's with the ruckus?" someone suddenly interrupted. "Wait... Don't tell me..."_

 _"Yeah," the big man answered, "he actually found them."_

 _Lucy quietly watched the small, old man that was looking at her as if she was made of chocolate. He took a hesitant step forward, then another, and another. The tall man let go of the boy and the latter went to stand beside Lucy, ruffling her hair and smiling his wide, bright smile._

 _"Yo Gramps!" he greeted. "See? I did it, even if you didn't believe I could!"_

 _The old midget ignored her friend and suddenly pulled her into a tight hug. He did the same with Michelle, ruffling their hair and smiling lovingly at them._ _Lucy froze and glanced at Michelle. If her sister wasn't pushing him away, then he probably wasn't someone to be scared of._

 _"I'm so sorry," the midget sobbed, "about not making it on time. I'm sorry about what happened to you..."_

 _Lucy didn't notice that she was crying until she noticed that her tears were staining the old man's shirt. She hugged him back, trying to ease the ache in her heart with his soothing warmth. She felt Michelle do the same._

 _"Don't worry, children," he breathed. "I'll take care of you. We will take care of you. We'll protect you."_

 _Lucy nodded, not daring to speak. At some point, she glanced up and saw her friend smile endearingly at her. Yes, these people would help her, she was sure of it now. She had found a place where she could stay and, one day, they'd all go and save her father._

 _"Silver," the old man called, "you should call your son, he'll be happy to see them. Afterwards, we'll prepare a room for them."_

 _The tall man called Silver nodded and left soon after. Yes, Lucy thought, they'd be alright. They were safe here, they'd make it._

 _Unfortunately, she was proved wrong a few days later._

* * *

oOo

* * *

"Are you sure that I'll be allowed to leave just like that?" Lucy asked as she and Erza were walking down the stairs.

The redhead nodded.

"I asked the general to take you with me as soon as I heard about this accident," she explained. "He didn't even try to argue or ask questions and said yes."

Lucy sighed and smiled.

"Awesome," she cheered. "I mean, it's terrible that such an accident happened, but the timing is excellent."

The doctor chuckled and glanced at her young friend.

"I understand what you mean, but try not to look too happy about this. It might look a bit suspicious."

"Right."

"Lucy, you're still smiling."

"Sorry, sorry."

They exited the building with heavy bags filled with medical equipment and put them in the car trunk. When Lucy turned around to tell Erza she was ready to go, she found the redhead already talking with someone. The nurse in training, Juvia, was here too, holding her own bag. Lucy couldn't hear them very well, but they seemed to be talking about someone who needed a special treatment and since Erza was leaving for the whole day, she had to leave some instructions for her substitute.

"Juvia, I believe you already know Luc," Erza said, "he'll be escorting us to the location of the accident and stay with us to protect us if needed."

Juvia nodded and extended a hand to greet her politely.

"Yes, Juvia knows Luc-san," she confirmed. "He's always around Gray-sama, for some reason. Luc-san wouldn't happen to be after Gray-sama, would he?"

Lucy arched a brow, wondering if she was serious. She apparently was.

"No," she assured. "I'm not."

The nurse nodded with a serene look.

"Good."

Lucy still remembered Loke's face as he told her how Juvia had threatened to slice Clive's throat to save Gray. There was no way in hell she was getting on this girl's bad side... Erza glanced at her watch and winced.

"We're going to be late if we don't hurry," she said, "get inside the car."

The younger women obeyed and Lucy sat in the passenger seat and watched the recruits gather in the field through the window. She recognized her own group even despite the distance, the commander walking in front of her comrades.

"Ok, as I said," Erza started talking as she started the engine, "it's a pretty big accident. Luc, you won't have anything to do beside assisting the police there, so I'll mainly talk to Juvia. You've been trained for this, it's a traffic accident: a bus collided with a car with four people inside. There are a lot of injured, but we won't be alone. Some medical teams finally agreed to help us, though they'll mainly take the victims to the hospital."

Juvia listened to everything Erza said with religious attention and Lucy got a bit lost when the redhead started giving details about procedures and cases. She watched through the window as the car rolled away from the field and toward the gates.

Outside, the sun was shining peacefully despite the cold temperatures, indifferent to the suffering of the people who were involved in the accident. Erza kept talking animatedly until they finally reached the south district. A whole road had been blocked by police cars and Erza cursed when she saw that the first ambulances hadn't arrived yet. She stopped the car in the middle of the street and got out, followed by Juvia and Lucy.

"Get the bags," Erza ordered them, "and join me quickly. I'll go get the first news."

They did as they were told and carried the bags without any real difficulty before running behind the redhead that looked more like an officer at the moment than most of the ones teaching at the Academy. Erza formed teams with the medical units that were already here and ordered Juvia to oversee one of them while she'd supervise all the operations.

Lucy went in search of the police chief, as she had been told to do in the car, but couldn't find him right away. Not that anyone could have blamed her, the situation was chaotic. Some people were stumbling and staggering, trying to get up or to find a wall to lean on. The bus had toppled over and the car had been crushed underneath its gigantic carcass. Lucy watched with horror filled eyes people try to escape the metallic prison. They were bloodied and screaming for help or crying in pain and grief. The passengers of the car were out of view, but the crushed shape of the vehicle didn't leave room for much hope.

"My son!"

Lucy flinched when she heard the shrill cry from behind her. She turned around and found herself facing a middle aged woman with semi-long hair and wearing a worn out blue woolen pullover. She was staring at the scene with horrified eyes, her hand clutching at her hair, staggering forward.

"My son!" she cried again. "He was inside the car! Did someone help him out? Where's my son!?"

Lucy then finally saw the police chief as the latter suddenly appeared out of nowhere to take the woman's arm as gently as he could.

"Ma'am," he said, "you can't stay here. We're trying to help everyone at the moment, but we'll work faster if you give us enough space to do so."

"But... but my son," she sobbed, "please, tell me that he's not still inside the car..."

Lucy's blood froze and she found herself praying that her son had been pulled out of the car. Only for a second, though, then she realized how naive that prayer was. Of course he was still inside: Erza would be the one to conduct the operation to get the victims out of the car and she still hadn't had the opportunity to start. Speaking of the redhead, she was currently arguing with someone while dialing a number on her phone.

"You moron," she yelled, "when did you start working? Calling the firemen should have been the first thing to do!"

"But we called the medical units..."

Erza glared at him with furious eyes.

"Go back home," she ordered, "and start looking for another job, I'll make sure you'll never be able to work for us again."

The dejected young man walked away, finally taking the measure of his mistake. It only took a few minutes for the firemen to arrive, escorted by more medical units and more cops. Two heavy rescue vehicles were brought along with more ambulances and a fire engine. From that point on, the firemen officers took control of the situation and were the ones to lead the operations, though Erza was still allowed to assist them.

Lucy followed the cops to help secure the perimeter as the firemen evacuated the bus, took care of the victims with the worse wounds, proceeded to the vehicle extrication. They did everything quickly, with a lot of professionalism, and Lucy was amazed at their efficiency. She didn't think she could have kept her calm in their position: having to deal with all this chaos, this blood everywhere, the constant danger.

Erza never stopped running and Lucy only caught brief glimpses of her red hair from time to time while she was trying to calm down the worried families and contain the curious bystanders that wanted to have a look at the scene. Juvia was doing amazing as well, giving much needed support to the medical units and taking care of the most seriously injured victims, some of them needing urgent surgery.

Within this whirling chaos of cries, screams and other nerve-wracking sounds, Lucy heard what felt like a faint whisper.

 _"Lucy_."

Lucy squinted her eyes at the crowd, searching the unknown faces for one that might be familiar. With such panic all around her, it wasn't surprising that her mind was playing tricks on her. She figured that she had just imagined that voice earlier and focused back on the agitated crowd. Until her eyes caught a glimpse of something silvery in the corner of her eye. It was a young man in his early twenties, with very light silver hair and no shirt on. Despite his missing garment and the surrounding heavy and panicked atmosphere, the only thing he seemed to see was Lucy herself. When her eyes met his, though, he took a step back and he suddenly looked very worried.

Two firemen then ran right in front of Lucy, temporarily preventing her from seeing the boy with the strange hair. When she could see again, he wasn't there anymore. He probably was a victim of the accident, he'd get help from one of the medical staff. A man visibly more agitated than the others suddenly bumped her shoulder and she had to be a bit rough to push him back into the crowd, telling him – and everyone that was still trying to approach the bus – that they needed to be patient and let the doctors work.

Juvia was suddenly by her side, panting, her hands covered with blood.

"Is everything ok for Luc-san?" she asked.

Lucy arched a brow, shouldn't she be the one to ask her that?

"I'm good," she assured, "but you look exhausted."

Juvia shrugged and gulped down a glass of water.

"Juvia only needed to drink," the nurse assured. "She's fine now, she's going back."

Lucy watched her run back to the scene, unhesitating. Gray would be proud of her. Right, Gray. Now that she thought about it, with everything that happened after the end of the game, she still hadn't had the opportunity to talk to him. But she would need to, eventually. Might as well do it as soon as possible and get this over with.

A few minutes later, and while all the victims that were inside the bus were taken care of, the firemen finally managed to drag the victims out of the car. Lucy and almost everyone around paused to observe them as the medical units ran to start treating them. They gave them heart massages, oxygen, they used defibrillators as well. For the four victims of the car, the cares were given for five minutes at most. When the medics stopped, Lucy's heart dropped. All four of them had died. From behind her, she heard the agonizing, heartbreaking scream of a woman she immediately recognized. It was the mother of one of the passengers of the car. Seems like their prayers hadn't been heard.

A few hours later, Lucy was given a ten minute break and a sandwich to eat. She didn't even take a bite. Her stomach hurt her and she felt nauseous. Erza and Juvia were doing much better, never stopping for even a minute, they helped all the medical units and probably saved dozens of lives that day. A moment passed with Lucy sitting on a car hood, staring at nothing in particular, trying to forget about the mother's scream and tears when she saw her son. What a tough soldier she was. She was deeply lost in her thoughts when someone sat by her on the car hood. Crimson hair that looked darker that day appeared in her field of vision and told her Erza was finally taking a break. Lucy felt the soft and gentle hand of her friend reach up and caress the back of her neck.

"Our job here is almost over," she breathed. "You did very well."

Lucy scoffed humorlessly.

"I only pushed and screamed at people that were worried about their families and friends all day long," she retorted. "I didn't do anything worth praising, you and Juvia did."

She was smacked in the head in the very next second and winced.

"Ouch... that hurt."

"Be glad I didn't punch you," the redhead growled. "I don't want to hear something like that from you again, am I clear? Without you and the others securing the area, we wouldn't have been able to help anyone. And your job was just as stressful as ours, you were the ones that had to deal with everyone's anger and fear."

"True..."

"Obviously. Now, everyone's been taken to the hospital so we'll leave soon," Erza explained. "I'll just talk a bit more with the officers and other people. Juvia's readying our bags and you can go help the policemen secure the area."

Lucy did as she was told, her mind not exactly registering what she was doing. She was functioning on autopilot and only stopped when the blue-haired nurse went to pat her shoulder.

"It's time," she said. "We're going back."

Lucy nodded and glanced at her watch: it was past 6 p.m. already, meaning the inspection had to be over. She dragged her sorry self to the car and slumped in the seat, cursing when she remembered she still had to put eh bags in the car trunk. As tired as she was, Erza and Juvia were in much worse condition than her, so it was obviously her job to carry the heavy stuff. When the doctor finally started the engine, Lucy allowed herself to relax and leaned her head against the window.

"You both did very well today," Erza praised them, "I'm very proud of you. As you saw, our local teams are very unorganized and tend to panic easily, so it's part of our job to take control of the situation."

The soft vibrations of the car lulled Lucy into sleep even as Erza was still talking. Her friend's voice was soothing and she was exhausted. Her last thought before drifting off for good was: _I'll have to tell Gray Juvia was awesome today. I hope Erza will tell the commander that I did good._

* * *

oOo

* * *

Lucy was fully awake when they reached the doors of the Academy. She couldn't see any official vehicle from the headquarters in the parking lot, but she still couldn't be sure that the place was really safe.

"Leave the bags to me," Erza said when she stopped the engine. "Go have a shower before you go to the refectory. Thanks again for your help today. I'll be sure to tell the general about your great work. Luc, I'll see you soon, there's something I'd like to discuss with you."

Juvia politely nodded to her before leaving to go back to the nurses' building. Lucy walked towards her dorm, hands in the pockets, still not feeling too energetic. As she walked around the gym lockers, she saw a small man with a weird haircut and a very large moustache stomping out of the main building, ahead of her. He looked pissed off, but his appearance made him look like a grumpy old cat, so it wasn't exactly impressive. He was still mumbling to himself as she walked past him.

"Hey, you," he suddenly called.

Lucy froze and turned around, slowly, trying not to look like a fugitive in disguise.

"Yes, sir?"

The midget squinted his already small eyes at her and she wondered if he could see anything when he did that.

"I didn't see you during the inspection," he mumbled. "Where were you?"

"I was escorting our doctor, sir," Lucy answered. "There was an accident in town and we had to..."

"Yeah, yeah," the old fart grumbled, interrupting her, "I didn't ask you to tell me about your life, if I ask you a simple question, give me a simple answer. Stupid soldier..."

Lucy forced herself to keep a neutral face and saluted.

"Yes, sir," she said. "Did you need anything else, sir?"

"No. My time is precious and you're wasting it."

With that, he turned around and walked away, still mumbling to himself. Lucy kept her docile smile on as she watched him go, hoping he'd fall into the manhole cover they had forgotten to close near the gym, but he unfortunately didn't. She sighed as she resumed walking toward the dorms, at least she hadn't been recognized.

Behind her, and before Lucy could disappear from his sight, the small counsellor of the Octagon turned around once more to stare at her back with a frown.

Lucy slowly climbed up the stairs, nodding at the few recruits she saw on her way. The inspection had apparently ended peacefully. She practically sleepwalked to the room she shared with Loke and frowned when she entered it to find her friend talking on the phone. He had red eyes and she knew he had been crying. Which was more than strange. Loke saw her enter and grinned at her, it didn't look forced.

"I have to go," he said to the person on the phone, "I'll call you later. Yeah, I think the results will be confirmed. You bet I am! Yeah, later."

He hung up and wiped his eyes, still grinning.

"Everything ok?" Lucy asked.

He flashed her his brightest smile and nodded.

"Better than ever," he assured. "I'm sure you're dying to know what's all this about, but I can't tell you just yet. You'll have to wait a bit more."

He was right, she was indeed dying to know what could possibly affect him that much, but he seemed to be something good, so she could wait. She dropped her bag to the floor and crashed on her bed, groaning as she buried her head in her pillow.

"How was your day?" Loke laughed as he watched her.

"Mmph mmmnpfh, mmpfh," Lucy answered.

"You do realize that I couldn't understand a thing you just said," Loke mocked.

Lucy turned her head to face her friend and repeated.

"It was horrible," she groaned. "I didn't think being a medic could be this hard..."

Loke nodded knowingly, but didn't say anything more.

"What about you?" she asked. "What was the inspection about?"

Loke sat by her on the bed and crashed above her, squashing her body to the mattress.

"The officers got scolded by the old geezers," Loke told her, ignoring her attempts to push him off her, "seems like they have been slacking off lately."

"Slacking off?"

Loke nodded, still not moving from his new resting spot.

"You're really comfy, you know," he told her. "Yeah, apparently, there's a serial killer going wild in the area and since the Academy has an agreement with the town, we're supposed to protect the citizens. They're blaming the officers that could have found some time to deal with it."

Lucy frowned, not minding her friend's weight anymore.

"But they were all very busy," she retorted. "And the town has cops for this kind of things..."

"I know," her friend agreed. "They had no valid reason to come. I don't understand what they really wanted to do by coming here. But they're actually blaming a group of people for the lack of action."

Lucy had a bad feeling about this, she could hear in Loke's voice that the people being blamed for this were probably people they were close to.

"Like who?"

Loke sighed and sat back up, scratching his chin.

"The commander, the colonel and the general himself," he breathed.

Lucy stared at him dumbly. Mira and Natsu were being blamed for this? Even the general was?

"And?" she pressed. "What will happen to them?"

Loke shrugged.

"Nothing much," he assured, "they were given a warning and they have a week to find the culprit before the Octagon officially gives them a sanction."

"One week?" Lucy repeated. "They know it's impossible to catch a killer before this deadline, this is disgusting..."

"Yeah," the young man agreed. "He's with Mira and the general now, they're talking about what to do. Oh, now that I think about it, Makarov wanted you to go to his office to give him your report on what you saw today, at the accident scene."

Lucy grumbled and buried her face back into the pillow.

"Tell me he doesn't want me to go today?"

Loke laughed and slapped her butt.

"Sorry, darling," he laughed as he dodged her punch. "You'll have to go before dinner."

Outside, the sun was already setting and the sky was much darker than it had been when they got back to the Academy. Lucy shivered, starting to feel the cold. Maybe she should have taken a jacket before going out. Deciding to take a short cut, she walked around the gym to get to the main building, where Makarov had his office. She had to walk along the very narrow passage between the gym lockers and the gymnasium to reach the building, but froze when she heard footsteps from behind her. She turned around and saw a small shadow on the wall. She waited for a minute, the cold biting at her fingers and nose. Then, the small silhouette of the counsellor of the Octagon appeared. Lucy frowned at him, seeing as his smirk as he walked toward her.

"May I help you, sir?" she asked.

She heard his sinister laugh as he got closer to her.

"Oh, I'm sure you can," he assured.

Lucy got a bad feeling and, even if the midget wouldn't be able to physically harm her, took a subtle step back.

"Actually," he went on, "you're going to make me rich and powerful."

Lucy's frown deepened. Was he trying to bribe her or something? Was it normal for people from the HQ to try and corrupt recruits? She took another step back and his smirk widened.

"After all," he growled in euphoria, "it is normal to reward the man who, after years of tracking her down, finally found the daughter of Jude Heartfilia! Isn't that right, Lucy!?"

Lucy didn't move an inch, her face didn't give any sign of recognition. Instead, she tilted her head to the side, a confused expression on her face.

"Excuse me, sir?"

She had prepared herself for a time when she would face a member of the Octagon and was sure her best chance at getting away safely was to play dumb and show no emotion. Outside, she looked a bit confused, but that was all. Inside, she was freaking out like never before, she was fighting a battle against herself not to run away, screaming in panic.

 _"Stay strong, Lucy,"_ her inner voice whispered calmly, " _he's just bluffing, don't do anything to give yourself away. You're fine, girl, don't panic."_

Lucy almost nodded, but managed to refrain herself from doing so. Instead, she watched the old midget burst out laughing, looking like a mad hyena.

"I can't believe I finally found you!" he screamed in delight. "There's no way for you to escape now, every single person working or studying here is under my orders!"

Lucy gulped, her act wasn't doing her much good.

"I don't unders..."

"Yeah, that's right!" he yelled. "Keep denying the truth! Struggle hopelessly! You're at my mercy, Lucy! I'll bring you back to the Octagon by the skin of your neck! You'll be locked in a cell of the Pandemonium and we'll make sure your father will be able to hear your screams as we beat you up, mutilate you, rape you until your body's completely destroyed! Then, we'll destroy your mind, too! You shouldn't have run away! You're going to pay for this, Lucy! We'll kill you slowly and painfully!"

Lucy barely listened to his threats, her fists clenched at her sides. She was busted.

"Kneel down," the midget ordered. "If you do, I'll handcuff you myself and we'll get out of here without making a ruckus. Kneel down and lick my boots. If you refuse, I'll walk out of that alley and order your friends to arrest you. I'll tell them the truth about your traitor of a father and your whore of a mother!"

Lucy's blood froze. A second before, she had been close to suffocate from her own inner heat. Now, the only thing she could feel was her deep, freezing hatred, tearing at her bones. He counted to three, but she didn't give a damn.

"Time's up," he smirked.

He walked past her slowly, smirking in victory. When he was close enough, she abruptly turned around and grabbed the man by his neck, lifting him off the ground and smashing his back against the wall. She didn't even realize that, but Lucy wasn't in control of her body anymore. Something else was acting on her behalf, doing something she wouldn't have been able to do. Her eyes were dull, her mind elsewhere. She was choking him.

She was forced to come back to her senses when she heard his laugh and felt his nails dig into her hands.

"Here," he coughed. "Kill me if you want, they'll find your DNA under my nails. You're doomed, Lucy."

The young woman felt her arms shake when strength left her body and she dropped the man. He fell to his knees and coughed. She didn't turn to watch him stand up and stagger toward the end of the passage, laughing to himself. She felt her tears run down her cheeks. Everything was over. She could still run away, but she wouldn't be able to escape Natsu and the others for long. And, worst of all, her sole chance of saving her father was ruined.

"Unless your body disappears," someone suddenly retorted.

Lucy turned around abruptly and her eyes widened when she saw Loke standing at the other side of the passage, blocking the midget's way. His eyes and face were dark, his body tense.

"If no one can find you, "he went on, "no one will know about what happened here. No body, no crime."

Lucy's eyes trailed down to his hand and widened again when she realized he was holding a gun.

"Hey," the old counsellor growled, "don't think you'd get away with it. Don't get involved in this, kid, you have no idea who this person really is..."

Loke's gaze never faltered. He lifted his hand, pointing the gun at the counsellor.

"I actually know everything there is to know about her," he retorted. "And even if I hadn't heard everything you just told her, I would know that it's far too dangerous to just let you go."

The midget got scared and took a menacing step toward Loke, who pulled on the breech. The cartridge was chambered.

"Don't think you can just threaten me like that!" the old man yelled furiously. "The detonation will alert everyone and you'll be screwed too!"

"There's a silencer," Loke retorted.

A moment of silence passed and Lucy wondered if the counsellor was going to surrender and promise not tell on her. Then, she realized that it was a stupid and naive thought. No matter what, this man had to disappear. Judging by Loke's hard gaze, he knew it too.

"You'll pay for this," the old man swore.

Loke shot. There was no noise and the wound was clean, right in between the eyes. Lucy froze and stared at her friend as he quickly walked toward the small man to put his head inside a plastic bag: to make sure they wouldn't leave any drop of blood behind, he explained. Lucy moved as well, she helped Loke close the bag and check their surroundings, but she was functioning on autopilot.

"We have to hide the body," Loke whispered. "Until we can find a way to get rid of it forever."

Lucy nodded, her brain having real difficulties working. Loke had killed someone to protect her secret. It wasn't the first time she had someone do something so terrifying for her sake, but it triggered traumatic memories and her mind had to shut itself off to protect her sanity. She glanced up at her friend, opening her mouth to speak, but not finding the words.

"Loke..." she sobbed.

He looked at her with eyes filled with emotions.

"What the fucking hell happened?"

Lucy blenched and jumped away from the voice coming from behind her. Before she turned around, she saw Loke's eyes go wide, his mouth dropping open. At the other side of the passage, staring at the corpse with wide, shocked eyes, stood Gray.

"Gray..."

Lucy flinched when she realized the weak, trembling voice she had just heard was her own. Her real voice, not the one she used to act as Luc. The young man tore his eyes away from the corpse and stared at her, still looking horrified.

"Did you do this?" he asked.

"No," Loke immediately corrected, "I did."

Gray stared at him, his face visibly paling a bit more with each passing second.

"You... this guy is from the Octagon..."

Loke nodded, refusing to avert his eyes. Gray closed his eyes and his hands reached up to clutch his hair, cursing and sighing. He finally turned around and went to crouch in front of Lucy.

"He knew about you, right?"

Lucy frowned, not managing to form any word.

"I..."

"He recognized you," Gray went on, "and wanted to drag you back to the HQ, right? That's why Loke killed him, right?"

"What are you..."

"Lucy!" Gray grabbed her shoulders firmly. "There's no time, please, answer me. Did he know about you? Was he going to take you back?"

Lucy stared at Gray. Apparently, she wasn't the only one remembering their childhood.

"You remember me?" her voice was still weak and trembling, "but not with fear and shock anymore."

The young man holding her shoulders sighed and looked at her with eyes filled with tenderness.

"I never forgot, Lucy," he breathed. "I never stopped looking for you either. But we don't have enough time to talk about it now, we have to get rid of this bastard."

He stood back up and stared at Loke.

"I take it you're aware of the situation," he said. "Then, you know we have to be quick. If we're found out, we're all dead."

Loke nodded and helped Lucy stand up as Gray turned around to look at the end of the alley.

"Gajeel," he called, "I know you followed me. Come here, we need your help."

Lucy stared in shock at the tall man with long, black hair that walked out from behind the wall and toward them. He had his hands in his pockets and didn't look that bothered by their situation. Lucy, though, was panicking: another person knew. This was a catastrophe!

"Don't sweat it, bunny girl," Gajeel smirked. "The shrimp told me that you were a girl a long time ago."

Lucy tilted her head to the side.

"He meant Levy," Loke explained.

"She figured you out right away," he smirked proudly.

Oh Lord, two more persons knew... How had the situation become so dire for her? She didn't even see it coming, but, apparently, almost all her friends knew about her being a girl.

"Who else knows?"

Gray glared at her.

"Do you seriously think this is the right time to talk about that? We have a corpse to hide."

"Hide?" Gajeel repeated. "Are you nuts? We gotta make it disappear for good."

"How?" Loke asked. "It's not like we can have it magically fly away to another country."

"I don't understand how you guys can agree to help me without even thinking about it when someone was killed," Lucy breathed.

The boys stared at her and Loke arched a brow.

"Well, technically, I'm the one who killed him. So, they're doing it for me."

"Right," Gray agreed, "we don't really care about you. You can go to sleep, if you want, we won't even notice."

Gajeel smirked and added.

"I didn't even notice you standing there."

Lucy shook her head, feeling so deeply grateful for finding such precious friends. Loke grinned at her, his hands around the plastic bag containing the head of the dead counsellor.

"Don't worry, Lucy," he said, "we're your friends. We're siding with you."

Lucy nodded, not trusting herself to speak, seeing as she couldn't even hold back her tears of joy.

"Well, I'm happy to hear that," someone else said.

The group abruptly turned to the end of the alley.

"Because, we're all accomplices here," Erza declared. "You're lucky that I know exactly how to get rid of this corpse."

Her arrival obviously triggered dozens of questions that she refused to answer before they were done with the counsellor's body. Only Gajeel didn't seem that affected by her involvement in this whole fake identity and murder thing.

"Figured she'd be in," he smirked.

Erza briefly explained her plan to them and walked out of the alley as if she was just quietly taking a stroll before going to eat. She took her car and came to a stop near the gymnasium so the boys could carry their murder victim and put it inside the trunk. No one was around anymore, so it was fairly easy. They climbed quickly in and she drove them to the forest, following the path until it was too narrow for the car to go on. They had to go on walking, carrying the heavy dead weight until they reached the lake. Lucy obviously helped them, carrying one of his legs, panting under the effort and trying to keep her memories at bay. This obviously wasn't the right time to dwell on memories that would most probably torture her. On several occasions, she panicked when she heard something crack or rustle in the bushes around them, but it always turned out to be a small animal.

"Put him in the bark," Erza ordered.

The four of them unceremoniously dropped him in the small boat and took a moment to take a breath.

"What are we going to do now?" Gray asked, looking less tired than the rest of them.

Erza tensed a bit and sighed before moving to the side and pointing to the closest edge of the lake.

"We're going to take a few of these rocks," she explained, "I'll tie them to his limbs and torso... and we'll drop him in the water."

It took them half an hour to get the rocks, row to the center of the lake, tie the rocks to the corpse and drop him. When they got back to the Academy, Erza talked to them.

"Go back to your respective rooms," she said, "have a shower, show up at diner and eat well, laugh and talk like normal. If someone asks where you were this evening, tell them you were helping me out with paperwork. Never talk about what happened tonight, not even among yourselves. We will talk about it, but only when you meet me in my office."

She took a deep breath in and slowly expired.

"Remember that this man was a dangerous psychopath that would have tortured and killed your friend if it makes you feel any better. What you did tonight was heroic and I'm really, deeply grateful to you." She turned to Lucy, hugged her, kissed her forehead and smiled sweetly. "I have to go now. It's up to you what you want to tell them, but I think they've proven their trustworthiness."

Lucy smiled back and nodded. While the redhead walked away, she turned to the boys.

"I already know the important stuff," Gray assured, "I'll go have a shower now. You can tell me about the details another time."

"Same here," Loke laughed.

"And I don't really give a damn," Gajeel shrugged, already walking away.

Lucy stared at them, dumbfounded. Granted, she was never really a specialist of normality, but she was pretty sure that their reaction was still very weird. In her state of confusion and exhaustion, though, she just followed Loke back to their room. Not yet realizing that she had just gotten herself allies that just openly sided with her in the upcoming war against the Octagon.

* * *

 **End of chapter 16**

We didn't see Natsu in this chapter, but the reason for him not being involved in this is pretty obvious, so I won't dwell on it. And we'll see him a lot more in the next chapter, don't worry! Also, I'm warning you in advance, but I'll post a warning at the start of the chapter: I don't know if it will be in the next chapter or the one after that, but prepare yourselves for some light smut!

 **Note: To those of you who own a Tumblr account, especially the ones who also read The Last Valkyrie, I highly recommend that you follow me: hungrypeanut. From now on, the previews will be posted there. I won't add them at the end of the chapters anymore.**

As usual, please don't hesitate to tell me what you've thought of this chapter. This one was very important and triggered the upcoming war against the HQ. Things will quickly get real intense for everyone, so stay tuned! Thank you very much to everyone who posted a review, favorited and followed the story: your support means the world to me!

 **2nd note: Here's a (very) small list of fictions I highly recommend reading (not in order of preference):**

 **\- Capturing her damaged heart, by mushi0131**

 **\- The Princess and the Pirate, by LeeSUP**

 **\- Of Myths and Monsters, by storybooksandfairytails**

 **I might talk about some others later, but I'll start with my favorites!**

* * *

 _Now! I'm going to answer a few questions from the reviews!_

Q (from AnonymousStalkerFriend): Wait so did Natsu notice the whole "she" deal or did he just glance over it?

A: I think you can figure this one out by yourselves. We're talking about a commander here, an officer has to be very perceptive.

Q (from FairyLover01): Wait, does that mean that Natsu knows she is a girl?

A: I've been asked this question so many times already, haha! You'll find out soon, don't worry!

Q (from 4evrDorkly17) : Also is she (Lucy) really in denial of her own mental state?

A: This is actually not that big of a deal. It's common for traumatized people to find ways to escape reality a bit. In Lucy's case, it's usually easy to ignore, she just sometimes talks to herself. It can only get a bit worrisome when she's very stressed out, as you saw during the Game.

Q (from 4evrDorkly17): Plus why is Gray acting as a recruit when hes obviously stronger/more experienced than one?!

A: Because he is. I'll get to that soon enough!

Q (from CathJorda): does it have regular updates?

A: No, I update as soon as the chapter's finished and corrected. It can be pretty fast (like for this one) or really slow (it sometimes happen).

Q (from ): is Loke going to die?

A: I gave you a huge hint in this chapter (try looking for it!)

 **That'll be all for today. Feel free to ask more questions, I'll answer them, either at the end of a chapter or in p.m!**

 **Next chapter coming soon!**


	17. Chapter 17: Hectic

**PART I – Resolution**

Chapter XVII – Hectic

* * *

 _"I stand there for a while, then sit cross-legged before it and bow my head. "Hi, Metias," I say in a soft voice. "Today's my birthday. Do you know how old I am now?"  
I close me eyes, and through the silence surrounding me I think I can sense a ghostly hand on my shoulder, my brother's gentle presence that I'm able to feel every now and then, in these quiet moments. I imagine him smiling down at me, his expression relaxed and free.  
"I'm twenty-seven today," I continue in a whisper. My voice catches for a moment. "We're the same age now."  
For the first tine in my life, I am no longer his little sister. Next year I will step across the line and he will still be in the same place. From now on, I will be older than he ever was.  
I try to move on to other thoughts, so I tell my brother's ghost about my year, my struggles and successes in commanding my own patrols, my hectic workweeks. I tell him, as I always do, that I miss him. And as always, I can hear the whisper of his ghost against my ear, his gentle reply that he misses me too. That he's looking out for me, from wherever he is."  
― Marie Lu, Champion_

* * *

 _Lucy breathed out, smiling. She could feel her friend's hand engulfing her own and she loved the warmth that was spreading through her whole body through this simple, innocent touch. The wind was softly blowing through the tall grasses of the clearing near the ranch, the birds chirping happily and the sun shining brightly. In short, it was a beautiful day and the children obviously decided to enjoy the good weather. They had been running for more than two hours when they decided to lie down and relax. Michelle was laughing beside her and Gray was exchanging jokes with her other friend. Lyon told them that he was tired and left before them to go back to the ranch._

 _"I don't know," Gray softly laughed, "I think I'd like to become a racing driver. What about you?"_

 _Her friend didn't even hesitate._

 _"I'll become a fireman!" he cheered. "Just like dad!"_

 _Gray chuckled and Lucy imitated him._

 _"Figured you'd say that. What about you, Michelle?"_

 _Lucy's smile widened because she already knew the answer to that question. She shifted in the grass so she could turn and look at her sister. Her pale blond hair was spread all around her beautiful face. Lucy was sure that Lyon had a thing for her. Well, not really, she didn't even understand what that meant, she just heard Silver say it to Gramps._

 _"I'd love to become a surgeon," she told them dreamily. "My biggest dream is to be able to save people suffering from illnesses that are supposedly incurable. I want to save them and tell them: See? You were right to keep hoping."_

 _A short moment of silence passed as the boys stared at her with newfound admiration._

 _"That's an awesome dream," her other friend whistled. "What about you, Lucy? What do you want to do when you're older?"_

 _Lucy sat up and turned around to look him in the eye. She smiled brightly and hugged him._

 _"I want to marry you!"_

 _The boy blushed as Gray and Michelle laughed loudly. They played around for a bit longer before walking back to the ranch, still laughing and joking around._

 _That evening, the ranch's cook wasn't there, so Gramps had to do the cooking and it went horribly wrong. The food was carbonized and everyone laughed as they forced themselves to eat it or threw it at each other. After dessert, they decided to play cards._

 _"Stop cheating, you little brat!" Gramps scolded Gray. "Where did you even learn to do that?"_

 _Gray smirked and pointed at the other boy, who was also smirking like a little devil._

 _"We learnt it from Silver," the latter assured._

 _Lucy laughed as the two old men argued, Michelle covering Lucy's ears so she couldn't hear their insults. All of a sudden, Lucy felt her sister tense. She looked up and saw Michelle stare at the door. Lucy wasn't the only one to notice Michelle's behavior and everyone turned to look at the door. Lyon was standing there, holding the door open, crying a river. Silver stood up, Gray imitating him right away._

 _"What's wrong, boy?"_

 _Lyon wiped his eyes, only for more tears to flow down. He sniffed, sobbed, but held the door open._

 _"I'm... so... so sorry..."_

 _A second later, a gloved hand appeared on the wooden door and another one landed softly on the boy's shoulder. A man entered the ranch. Lucy froze while Michelle jumped to her feet._

 _"Lyon," she called, "what does that mean?"_

 _A second passed and no one was sitting anymore. Lyon cried even more when he heard Michelle._

 _"Don't... Don't try to escape... please... I beg you..."_

 _Michelle's expression instantly went from confusion to sheer anger. Lucy started crying when several other men entered the ranch, wearing black military uniforms and balaclavas, all of them holding rifles._

 _"You dared betray us!" Michelle screamed._

 _Lucy immediately noted how her voice was filled with fury and pain. No, pain wasn't enough to describe it. Talking about grief would be more accurate._

 _"Children," Gramps growled, "follow the escape plan. No turning around. Boys, we're entrusting them to you."_

 _Lucy cried tears of fear and sorrow. She was so sure that they'd be safe at the ranch! She didn't resist when her friend carried her in his arms and watched as Gray had to lift Michelle from her waist. Her older sister was still yelling at Lyon and Lyon was still crying. What happened afterwards was hazy. Lucy heard screams from the ranch as they ran toward the barn. She heard the boys curse as they realized that they were armed men outside too. The 'black men' as Lucy called them, entered the barn after the children. Lucy felt her friend's arms tighten around her and she buried her face in his neck._

 _"Gray," Michelle suddenly called, "take … and Lucy, and run away from here."_

 _Lucy's eyes shot up and she stared at Michelle with panic filling her whole being._

 _"What? What are you..."_

 _"Don't argue, Gray!" Michelle screamed. "We don't have enough time!"_

 _She took something small and somewhat round out of her pocket. Gray saw it, his eyes widened and he took a step back._

 _"What the hell are you..."_

 _"Run away!" Michelle ordered, her voice desperate._

 _She pulled the pin out and the men chasing them suddenly panicked too, they ran toward her. Gray ran toward the exit and his friend, who was still carrying Lucy, followed him. Michelle turned around to look at her little sister as she was being carried away. The little girl held her hand out, desperately trying to reach her sister, crying all the tears of her small body. Michelle's smile was angelic as she extended her arms._

 _"I love you, Lucy."_

 _She dropped the grenade._

 _When Lucy woke up, the moon was out and she was lying on the earth, legs still immersed in the river. She was alone, her head was bleeding, she was cold and terrified. And she was suffering from partial amnesia._

* * *

oOo

* * *

Lucy sighed when she felt the hot water pour down on her aching body. The running water helped her clear her thoughts and her fists clenched when she thought of the counsellor they had just dumped in the river. This man probably had a life to live, Lucy knew. He probably had a family, maybe a wife and some children. And yet, she couldn't bring herself to feel guilty. She still remembered the words he said and his face as he was practically orgasming thinking about the tortures she'd be put through. And Loke had been the one to pull the trigger. She'd bury a thousand corpses in secret if it was for his sake.

Huge clouds of mist followed Lucy when she walked out of the bathroom. Loke was lying on his bed, facing the ceiling.

"Is it bad that I don't feel guilty at all?" he asked. "It's not normal, is it?"

Lucy sighed and sat on the bed, next to him.

"Probably not," she agreed. "But, I don't know if you noticed, but a lot of things happening lately are very abnormal. We'll be crushed if we react like normal people."

Loke sighed deeply and turned his head so he could look at her.

"I'd kill him again if it was to protect you," he breathed. "I'd do anything, really."

Lucy felt the now familiar prickling of hot tears threatening to fall. She sniffed and nodded, leaning down to kiss her friend on the forehead and hug him.

"I know," she smiled. "And I'd do the same for you, obviously."

Loke hugged her back and closed his eyes, finally feeling calm enough for his heartbeat to slow down.

"Someone will notice his disappearance," he finally said.

"I know."

A moment of silence ensued and Lucy chuckled as she sat back up and ruffled his hair.

"Go wash," she told him, "we have to go to the refectory now."

Loke smiled back and sat up as well.

"Why bother? It's late, everyone will be gone."

"Doesn't matter," Lucy answered. "We have to act as if everything was normal. And you skipping diner definitely wouldn't be normal."

Her friend scoffed.

"That's rich coming from you."

She hit him with a pillow and pushed him to the bathroom. As expected, the refectory was almost empty when they got there and most of the good food had been taken. Lucy had to settle for a small piece of chopped beef and some green beans. As they ate, Loke and Lucy made sure to laugh and smile a lot, trying to look as carefree as possible without overdoing it. They were ready to go back to their room when someone patted Lucy on the shoulder. The young woman turned around to find Mira faking a smile at her.

"Hey, Luc," she greeted. "I heard from Erza that you've been busy with paperwork. I'm sorry to bother you when you're probably tired, but the general wants to see you for a moment."

Lucy smiled back as insincerely as Mira and nodded.

"Sure," she said. "Loke, you can go back first, I'll be back soon."

She didn't wait for her friend's answer and got up to follow Mira to the general's office. The corridors of the main building were empty, as most recruits were already back to their rooms, so Lucy relaxed a bit.

"Isn't it a bit late to meet the general?" she asked, hoping to get Mira to talk too, it was strange for her ever-cheerful friend to be this quiet.

Mira shook her head.

"Don't worry, he'll be working all night long," Mira answered. "Talking with you will be one of his easiest jobs."

Lucy arched an eyebrow.

"All night long? Is it because of the inspection?"

Mira nodded, but still didn't look at her.

"Partly. You'll probably hear about it during the meeting. Natsu's there, as well as some others."

When they finally reached Makarov's door, Mira stopped and turned around to glance at Lucy. She was nervous and scared. Sure, the general only wanted a report about her time out of the Academy that day, but it was impossible not to wonder why he absolutely wanted to see her that evening, impossible to forget that they had hidden a corpse a few hours earlier. She gulped and nodded at Mira, who was waiting for her to prepare herself. The colonel opened the door and let her enter the office first. Makarov lifted his eyes when he saw her.

"Hello, child," he greeted, "I'll finish with them and we'll talk after that."

Lucy nodded and quietly waited in the corner of the room. Makarov's attention went back to the commander who was sitting in front of him. Beside him was Laxus and standing behind them were Erza, Clive and, surprisingly, Jellal. Lucy had almost forgotten about him.

"As you can see," he told them gravely, "the situation is extremely serious. I don't know why we never heard of this Butcher before, but I'll personally conduct an investigation on the matter. In the meantime, Natsu, Laxus, Gildarts and Jellal, I want all of you to form teams and patrol the town during night time. Erza, you'll visit the victims who survived and try to gather every information you can manage. We have one week to find him." The old man sighed in defeat as his eyes shifted to Natsu, who was quietly listening. "Otherwise, they will officially order your deployment to Joya."

The commander stared at the general with cold eyes that didn't betray any emotion. He nodded. Lucy gulped and her eyes widened. Joya was an allied country of Fiore, but also the most dangerous country to be at the moment: it was at war against Desierto. She was sure to never see him again if he was sent there.

"A commander sent to Joya?" Laxus growled, "this is ridiculous."

Makarov nodded.

"Of course it is," he agreed, "the Octagon wants to make an example out of him. They want us to know that they're still the big bosses."

Lucy observed them and what she saw surprised her. She saw anger in their eyes, she recognized the unwillingness to submit to any form of unfair authority, she shared it. All of them were lower in rank than the members of the Octagon, so they were forced to obey. But Lucy had a feeling that, if Natsu was really sent to Joya, every person in this room would go berserk. And she was absolutely sure that the Octagon would be delighted with that, because it would give them a valid reason to get rid of them.

 _"Heh_ ," her inner voice laughed, " _who would have guessed? You may be able to find more allies than you bargained for here_."

Lucy gulped. She wasn't surrounded by obedient pawns of the Octagon, as she had first thought. But their reaction at the threat directed at the commander didn't mean they'd switch sides to fight for her.

"That's fine," Jellal finally intervened. "We'll simply catch John the Butcher within a week and with that they'll lose the upper hand."

"Don't be naive," Erza growled, "they'll find something else. They know how powerful they are. If they're after Natsu, they'll find a way to get to him, sooner or later."

A heavy silence engulfed the office when she said those words, everyone understanding that they were true. They may have been officers, they were still powerless against the Octagon. Lucy wanted to scream that they were not, that they had a way to fight back, but even she wasn't sure what that way was. She was absolutely sure that they had one, but couldn't remember what exactly that was. Why? The only things she could remember were useless, painful things like the night of the attack. Why couldn't she remember things like the face of the man who dragged her father to the van, or a way to defeat the Octagon. The only thing that came to her mind was an image: a rose. The sound of someone clearing their throat suddenly startled everyone. Mira was waving at them with a small smile on her face.

"Um, we're still here, you know," she chuckled.

All heads turned to her and Lucy and the young recruit could finally see the commander's face. He wasn't as unaffected by this as he wanted to let on. He was tense and the look in his eyes was distant.

"I want to be in a patrol team," she heard someone say.

She frowned when everyone stared at her with surprised eyes and realized that she had been the one to volunteer. Gildarts laughed and the commander glared at him. Jellal and Erza exchanged a knowing glance, which made Lucy briefly wonder if those two had managed to find some time to talk. Mira turned to look at her with bright, watery eyes, and Laxus didn't look like he gave a damn about what was happening. What had she said that was so surprising? She wanted to go hunt a serial killer, no big deal.

"Well," Makarov chuckled, "we'll decide the composition of the teams later, but I'll keep your wish in mind. Now, you can all leave, I have to talk with Luc and Erza. Don't forget to bring me a list with the names of the recruits you want in your team. You can give it to me tomorrow, during lunch time."

Lucy didn't move from her spot as the officers exited the room. Laxus and Jellal politely nodded at her, Gildarts winked and Natsu ruffled her hair before walking out. Lucy smiled as she stood in front of the desk, Erza took the seat beside hers.

"Where's Juvia?"

"She already came to give her report," Erza explained. "She's probably in her room."

Lucy nodded and listened to Makarov as the old general explained her that there was a procedure to follow for recruits leaving the Academy for a mission and she had to write a report for him. It took Lucy ten minutes to do so and she handed the sheet of paper to the old man. He took it and glanced at it before nodding and smiling.

"Perfect," he said, "you can leave now. Have a good night."

Erza stayed in the office when Lucy was allowed to leave and the young woman remembered that Mira had told her that the general would be working all night long. It reassured her to know that he wouldn't let the commander be sent to Joya just like that. And she wanted to help, that's why she immediately volunteered to be in a patrol team. Lucy dragged her exhausted self to the room and found Loke already sleeping when she entered it. She quickly stripped off her uniform and collapsed on her bed less than a second later.

Unbeknownst to her, or anybody else, the following day would be one of the craziest days she would spend at the Academy.

It started a bit before six in the morning when the fire alarm was triggered and all recruits had to hurry and leave their rooms. Lucy was still blushing when when they exited the building: when she heard the alarm, she was still getting dressed and had to have Loke help her put her bandage on... Gray was only wearing his boxers and most of the recruits were visibly only halfway through their morning routine when they ran out of the building. Lucy got a bit angry when they were explained that it was only an academic exercise.

"You were too slow," Natsu scolded them. "If the building had really been burning, you'd be roasting inside as we speak!"

They walked back to their room and Lucy had to bear with Loke's comments on how annoying it had been to help her put her bandage on, but he still would gladly help her out in the future. They went to the refectory soon after and found most of their friends there. Gray had pants on, but his shirt was still nowhere to be found. Gajeel was brooding, glaring at his plate, Sting was laughing loudly with Elfman. The commander pushed Loke out of his way and sat beside Lucy. Mira smirked at him and he averted his eyes, focusing on his food. In the end, Loke was forced to sit beside Erza, who was exceptionally eating with them. Needless to say, breakfast was loud as fuck with all of them reunited. At some point, Sting jumped to his feet, knocking his chair over in the process. He looked pissed off and angrily walked toward the other end of the refectory.

"Hey!" he yelled. "What the fuck do you think you're doing!?"

Everyone at Lucy's table turned around to observe him as he yelled at a group of second years. At their feet, the content of his plate scattered on the floor, Rogue was quietly gathering his things. Lucy frowned when Sting reached the group and grabbed the tallest one by the collar of his shirt.

"I saw you push him, bastard," he growled. "You did it on purpose!"

Sting was an impulsive young man and his brother was his only treasure in life, so he tended to be a bit overprotective. But he was no liar, if he said that he'd seen that guy push Rogue on purpose, then it was the truth. Thinking back on it, Lucy was pretty sure that it wasn't the first time that something like that happened. Yeah, that day when he was pushed against a locker, wasn't that guy the one that did it? Lucy stood up and she heard Gray, Gajeel and Loke do the same. She helped Rogue pick up his food and stand up while the second year pushed Sting away.

"Hands off, fucker," he growled. "Your brother fell on his own."

"On his own, my ass!" Sting retorted. "Apologize to him, son of a bitch!"

"Sting," Lucy scolded, "don't talk bad about mothers."

"Yeah, yeah, I take that back. Now, apologize to Rogue!"

The tall young man had brown hair and a common face, nothing worth describing or remembering, really. He glared at Sting and then sent a disgusted look at Rogue.

"There's no way I'm going to apologize to a fag," he groaned.

Lucy didn't even see Sting move before his fist collided violently with the second year's jaw. He fell to the floor and Sting pounced on him and punched him some more. The jerk's friends joined in and the fight would have degenerated if Natsu and Laxus hadn't been there. The commander pulled Sting back and held him back while Laxus took the second year away. Erza and Lucy took care of Rogue, who didn't dare meet anyone's eyes. Everything happened so fast it was hard to be sure who started the fight, so Lucy hoped Sting wouldn't be blamed for everything.

"Shit," Gajeel mumbled, "I had no idea Sting was this fast. I should have been more attentive, I needed to punch someone too."

Sting calmed down when the other guy was out of the refectory. He turned to face his brother and his eyes were red.

"I'm sorry, bro," he breathed.

Rogue shook his head.

"No need to be," he retorted. "You didn't need to do that."

Sting sniffed and wiped his nose, smirking.

"But now that I've done it, the message's clear: no one lays a hand on my brother!"

Natsu smacked the back of his head and the recruit winced.

"Don't look so proud of yourself," he groaned, "you're in trouble, idiot."

Sting shrugged, his fists were bleeding and his breathing still labored, as if he was still fighting inside his head. Something told Lucy it wasn't the first time Sting had to stand up for his brother, but time and anger made it nearly impossible for him to hold back now. Suddenly, Lucy wanted to punch that bastard too. Rogue never lifted his eyes and this too annoyed her.

"Um..." he hesitated, "I can go sit somewhere else if you guys aren't comfortable with it..."

Sting glared at his friends, as if daring anyone to say that they indeed had a problem with his brother's sexual orientation, and it upset Lucy. Did he really think so poorly of them? The commander slapped the back of Rogue's head this time.

"I don't want to hear such bullshit," he growled. "Raise your head and look at us in the eye when you talk, you've got nothing to be ashamed of."

Morning classes passed so slowly Lucy could barely contain herself. After what had happened during breakfast, no one wanted to sit for hours, listening to the theories of war of an old bastard that had died ages ago. Lucy was nervous and anxious, her leg kept shaking under her desk and she couldn't focus on anything for more than a minute. She kept glancing out of the windows, searching for any sign of agitation. They hadn't heard a thing about Sting yet and it was seriously annoying to be kept in the dark. It didn't help that, for some reason, Loke left the classroom before the end of the lesson. About an hour before lunch time, the door was nearly kicked open and everyone blenched as Loke entered again. His eyes were wide and his face red with the effort, he had been running all the way back to the classroom. His eyes immediately locked with Lucy's and he grinned widely.

"Come with me," he said, "it's important!"

Lucy didn't even hesitate. She ignored Bob's protests and didn't even notice the looks on Gray and Gajeel's faces as she ran out of the room. They were obviously dying to follow them, but decided to wait until lunch time to interrogate them, because they sure as hell would force the truth out of them. Loke grabbed her hand and dragged her down the corridor and the stairs, out of the building and inside the medical wing.

"What's the matter?" Lucy asked, panting a bit.

She soon understood they were running toward Erza's office.

"You'll see," Loke smiled at her over his shoulder and she saw in the way his eyes shone with joy that he had very good news for her. He almost kicked Erza's door open, but seemed to think better of it and knocked five times before entering the office. Erza was sitting at her desk, a pile of files in her hands.

"Already?" she asked when she saw them come in, smiling as well.

Loke forced Lucy in the nearest seat and his smile widened as he came to stand in front of her.

"You remember what I told you when you asked me to tell you what was wrong with me?" he asked. "When you saw me have a crisis?"

Lucy nodded. Did he even need to ask? Sure, she had noticed that he seemed to be doing better lately, but she could never forget the feeling of dread that shook her body when she saw cough blood and cry as he threw up.

"I told you then that I needed time," he went on. "Well, now's the time."

Lucy was hanging on every word as if her life was on the line, she didn't even notice that she held her breath as she waited for what was to come. Loke took a deep breath in and crouched in front of her, taking her hands in his.

"I have cancer," he told her.

Lucy's heart suddenly stopped and her throat constricted, she felt bile acid gnaw at her stomach and rise up her throat. He panicked when she started to cry and his hands shot up to wipe her tears.

"Oh no," he laughed sweetly, "no, no, no. Don't cry, Lucy, I won't die. I've been receiving an experimental treatment for a few months now, and Erza got the results today. My condition worsened lately, but it was normal. The treatment is working, Lucy. I'm in remission."

Lucy glanced at Erza and the redhead smiled fondly and nodded. The blonde's eyes went back to Loke and she cried tears of relief, flinging herself at him, arms around his shoulders. He embraced her back and felt his own tears of joy and relief run down his cheeks and moisten her friend's shirt.

"You'll be fine?" she sobbed, nose buried in his neck.

He nodded and laughed.

"Yeah," he promised, "I'll be fine."

She laughed and her hands clasped his cheeks so she could look him in the eye and kiss his forehead. After what she slapped him.

"Never hide something so serious from me again," she ordered.

He laughed and nodded.

"Alright," he agreed.

They obviously didn't go back to class after that. Loke waited until Lucy's eyes were less red before walking with her to the refectory. It was lunch time already and they still had no idea what would happen to Sting. When they got there, they saw that most of their friends were already sitting at their table. Gray and Gajeel were glaring at them.

"Back so soon?" Gray asked. "I thought you had eloped."

Loke smirked at him.

"Were you jealous?"

"Hell no..."

Lucy was surprised to see that Sting was here, eating beside Rogue as if nothing had happened. The latter looked more comfortable around them since the commander had talked to him, that morning. In the background, Lucy could hear her friends bickering, but she paid them no attention, only focusing on Rogue. He still looked a bit down and anxious, but she was starting to think that it was his normal expression. Melancholy kind of suited him.

"Hey," Loke pushed her shoulder and she looked at him with confused eyes. "Would you mind paying attention when we're talking to you?"

Oh, they were talking to her?

"Sorry," she mumbled. "What did you want?"

"Those guys asked what we did when I came to get you, but they don't believe me, so please, give your confirmation."

Lucy was about to do just that, but hesitated and arched a brow at him before turning to Gray and Gajeel.

"What did he tell you?" she asked.

She ignored Loke's outraged complaints about how she didn't trust him.

"He said you made out in a closet," Gray deadpanned.

Lucy growled in annoyance. Not even bothering to deny it. She decided to violently murder her sauteed potatoes instead, since they had been taunting her for a moment. Her friends continued to joke and laugh at each other for a moment before she heard a low-pitched voice she had almost forgotten.

"And so," the commander was staring at her with serious eyes, "what were you two doing?"

Lucy hesitated, glancing at Loke. He hadn't asked her to keep it a secret, but it was a very private matter and she figured he'd rather be the one to tell the others.

"Nothing important," she shrugged.

She saw the commander's jaw contract and she prayed it was only her imagination.

"You skipped class to do nothing important?" he went on, voice still pretty menacing.

Once again, she glanced at Loke to get some help, but the young man was still laughing dumbly with Gray and Gajeel.

"N...no," she stuttered. "It's just... it's personal."

Natsu's fist clenched around his fork and his eyes darkened considerably.

"If you say so," he growled.

Lucy looked at him as he suddenly stood up and dropped his - now twisted - fork on his plate, picked it up and walked toward the doors of the refectory. The others turned around to stare at him with curious eyes.

"What's wrong with him?" Gray asked.

Lucy shrugged and glared at Loke.

"How should I know," she growled.

Neither of the boys dared ask another question, so they simply stared at Natsu's retreating back only to see him stop when the doors opened on their own. The general was here with the lieutenant-colonel Clive. He went to stand in the center of the refectory and waved at everyone and no one in particular.

"Hello, children," he greeted. "I'm sorry to disturb you during your lunch, but I have a few questions to ask. I'll be quick, don't worry. Firstly, you all remember that we had some members of the Octagon come over yesterday? Well, one of them is apparently missing. The small, old one with weird cat ears? Anyone saw him around?"

Lucy froze and tried her very best not to look at any of her friends. None of them reacted in any way, but they obviously were dying to look at each other to find support in their friends' eyes.

"No?" Makarov asked again. "Ok, I'll tell them he's not here, then. Now, on another matter. Two recruits were involved in a fight this morning. I want to know who started it."

At Lucy's table, the only person who moved was Gajeel, who held Sting back by putting his large hand on his shoulder.

"Let me go," Sting hissed. "I'll take responsibility!"

"Shut up," the punk growled.

Makarov waited for a few more seconds before sighing.

"Children, if you don't tell me, I'll have to investigate the matter and the punishment will be worse..."

Lucy gulped. Sting had been the one to start the fight, but it was the second year that acted like a homophobic jerk in the first place. Sting didn't deserve to be punished for protecting his brother.

Makarov was about to leave when she jumped up and raised her hand.

"I did it," she said.

Every person in the room turned to stare at her. Makarov raised a brow, but Lucy was only looking at the commander's face. He looked baffled and Lucy would have laughed had her situation been less serious.

"I punched him," she added.

Sting practically jumped on the table at this.

"What the hell are you..."

"Wait," Gray interrupted. "Luc's saying it to cover me. I was the one who punched him."

Lucy glared at him when looked at her. She knew what he was doing and didn't find it amusing.

"Um..." Makarov hesitated. "Did you both punch him?"

"No," they both answered.

"Ok, I'll need you to be clearer."

Loke then decided to join in on the fun and stood up as well.

"They're lying, sir, they didn't lay a hand on him. I did."

Gajeel then raised his hand as well, not even bothering trying to hide his amused smile.

"So did I."

Lucy turned around to glance at Natsu and found him massaging the bridge of his nose, clearly not amused with this either. Well, she had to admit that it was starting to be funny with everyone playing along. Sting finally did jump on the table, pointing at himself.

"Don't listen to them, sir! They're idiots! It was me!"

Makarov growled in annoyance and glared at them.

"All of you come to my office," he ordered. "Now."

It took him a while, but Makarov ended up knowing the truth. Sting pushed the second year to protect his brother, who was being bullied because of his sexual orientation.

"You shouldn't have used violence," Makarov scolded Sting. "So you'll have to perform community service as an alternative to expulsion. But what the other student did is called harassment and we don't tolerate discrimination here. Since he physically bullied Rogue at several occasions, he'll be expelled from the academy."

He then turned to glare at Lucy and her friends.

"As for you, idiots," he growled. "What you did earlier will be interpreted by everyone as defying my authority. Be quiet, I know that's not what you intended to do, but you still did it. So, you'll have to work with Sting for a week as a punishment. That's all, you can leave. Go to class."

They obviously obeyed him, all of them aware that the punishment could have been far worse than what they got. Outside the office, the found the commander leaning on the wall, arms crossed over his chest. He still looked pissed, but he often looked like that, so Lucy didn't let it bother her.

"What did you get?" he asked.

"Community service," Gray shrugged.

The commander nodded and slowly pushed himself off the wall.

"He went easy on you."

"We know."

Natsu briefly glanced at her, then at Loke, before turning around.

"I'll see you in class, then."

And he left. Lucy watched him go, frowning in confusion. Why was he so upset?

"He's going to be a pain in the ass during class," Gajeel mumbled. "What's wrong with him?"

Gray shrugged.

"Beats me."

Afternoon classes were even more boring than morning classes. History of Ancient Weapons, for God's sake, what good would studying this do them? Lucy fell asleep during Clive's class and he threw a chalk at her head. It was his thing: throwing chalks at students who fell asleep or chatted during class.

"Next time I have to throw something at you," Clive warned, "it will be a desk."

Lucy believed him. She was almost relieved when it was time to go to her last class: combat training. Almost being the key word here. For this class was taught by Natsu and the commander seemed to be in an awful mood that day. Lucy changed in her sportswear in her bedroom and walked to the field with a small lump in her throat. When she got there, she started stretching with Gray and Gajeel, Loke wasn't ready yet. It was cold outside now that it was this late in the afternoon, but no one had thought of taking gloves. On the side of the field, Lucy saw Natsu doing pushups to warm himself up. He was fast and the muscles of his arm could be seen even through the fabric of his shirt every time he pushed himself up.

"How many do you think he did?" Loke asked when joined them.

Gray shrugged.

"Not sure. Probably around sixty."

Lucy's eyes widened. Sixty and he was still going at it? He didn't even look tired... He stopped when he saw that most of his recruits were already there and stood back up. His eyes caught hers for a second, but he immediately averted them and it started to anger her. He had been like that with her almost all day long and she had no idea why.

"Pick a partner," he ordered coldly.

Loke smiled at Lucy and shrugged.

"He's probably still angry about my joke from earlier," he said, "about the closet. We should switch partners for this time."

Lucy frowned, glanced at the commander and saw that he was indeed observing them from the corner of his eye. This was ridiculous! Who did he think he was to monitor them as if they were troublesome children? Lucy glared at him and grabbed Loke's arm.

"No way," she retorted. "We're staying together."

If Loke realized that she was doing it only to piss the commander off, he didn't comment on it and only nodded, a dumb smile on his face. The commander explained the rules, they were going to learn a new technique. He showed them the movements and told them to be careful when finishing it.

"Remember this is only training," he said, "you can easily break someone's nose with this, so be careful."

Loke played the attacker first and Lucy parried, pulled on his arm and brought her elbow to his nose, only stopping in time not to hit him. Loke laughed.

"I thought you were going to hit me," he said.

Lucy had thought so too, stopping the movement despite the impulse was harder than one would have thought. Loke didn't seem to have any difficulty with it, though. They switched roles a few times, getting better each time. But at some point, while Loke pulled Lucy toward him to threaten her with his elbow, another recruit that had been practising with his partner lost control and didn't manage to stop his impulse. He missed the nose and hit his partner's mouth hard, sending a cascade of blood out as the recruit's lips were split, his teeth broken and his tongue bitten hard. Unfortunately for Lucy, she was very close to the injured recruit when it happened and thus was splashed by the blood that stained her face and shirt.

"Shit," Loke cursed as he helped her up.

Natsu ordered Elfman and two others to help him carry the injured recruit to the infirmary.

"Everyone else stop practising this move and do something else," he said. "Something not dangerous, like stretching or something." Before leaving, he took something out of his bag and threw it at Lucy. "You go change," he said, pointing to the lockers.

Lucy stared at the shirt that was obviously too large for her. Natsu's shirt. Loke gently pushed her toward the lockers as the team escorting the injured recruit walked toward the medical wing. He accompanied her to the door, but didn't follow her inside.

"Wash the blood off and change," he told her. "I'll go back to the field to make sure none of these idiots come here to see how you're doing."

Lucy nodded and entered the lockers, making sure to close the door behind ever, even though she couldn't lock it. It was her first time in the boys' lockers, but she didn't feel nervous or anything, she was just eager to wash this blood off... She shrugged her shirt off, still feeling reassured knowing that Loke was making sure that no one would come to see her. She walked to the showers and turned the water on. Her bandage would get soaked if she kept it on, so she had to remove it. It would be a problem if the soaked bandage left dark stains on Natsu's shirt to let everyone know what she was hiding underneath it. She didn't strip naked, though, and instead bent down so the water only hit the top of her body. Her pants obviously got a bit splashed by water, but it wasn't important. She made sure to clean her hair and face off of the blood before turning the water off. She used the back of her dirty shirt to wipe her drenched hair and face before going back to the bench where she had left her bandage. She thought she heard the door creak, but when she turned around to check, it hadn't moved and was still closed. She shrugged and worked on putting on her annoying bandage. After what she shrugged the oversized shirt on and mentally slapped herself when she realized she had been sniffing it.

Unbeknownst to her, the door had indeed been opened. And the one that had seen her was walking back to the field, trying his hardest not to blush at the image of the half naked young woman that he just couldn't erase from his mind.

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 **End of Chapter 17**

Another very fast update (I'm proud of myself). Talk about an action packed chapter, this one should be pretty satisfying, but please, do tell me what you've thought of it!

I wanted to thank everyone who started following me on Tumblr (you guys will be the only ones getting reviews from now on, by the way), and obviously: thank you so much to everyone who sent reviews, favorited and followed the story. Your patience will be rewarded in the very next chapter! Things are getting serious soon, children!

 **Warning** : there will be a steamy scene in the next chapter.

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Reviews:

To harin-chan: I tried answering you, but you disabled the private messaging feature, so I can't!

Special thanks to Kauia, 4evrDorkly17 for leaving such long-ass, constructive reviews, to Fiorelies for being so enthusiastic and to sarara1.8 because your review made me laugh.

Questions/Answers:

Q (from StardragonXX): Is the HQ gonna kill Loke, or is it gonna be separate party? What did kill the cat?

A: Well, it seems that Loke will be fine, doesn't it? Or maybe, he won't, who knows? And what killed the cat was a bullet, haha!

Q (from ): so had a random thought. is Michelle actually dead or just "dead to her" like maybe she is kyoka-that would be some twist. looks like loke is going to live through his disease. and is the serial killer tied in with Lucy's past? guessing shirtless guy is it on? so many questions. I'm so excited.

A: You got the answer to your first question at the beginning of this chapter, haha. And no, the serial killer has nothing to do with Lucy's past, he's just a random, deranged psychopath, haha.

Q (from 4evrDorkly17): why all of a sudden did Gray, Erza, Loki and Gajeel simultaneously arrive? Are they all always keeping tabs on her personally or something?

A: Yeah, they're all a bunch of stalkers. Someone should report them to the police.

That'll be all for now, but you're probably almost done putting the pieces together now! I'll soon give you the last very important information and it should be easier for you to understand what really happened _that night_.


	18. Chapter 18: Burning up

**Warning: Nothing too explicit, but still mature content ahead. The story is rated M for a reason, but feel free to skip this chapter, I'll post a summary later.**

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 **PART I – Resolution**

Chapter XVIII – Burning up

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" _Give me all of you! I don't want so much of your time, so much of your talents and money, and so much of your work. I want YOU! ALL OF YOU! I have not come to torment or frustrate the natural man or woman, but to KILL IT! No half measures will do. I don't want to only prune a branch here and a branch there; rather I want the whole tree out! Hand it over to me, the whole outfit, all of your desires, all of your wants and wishes and dreams. Turn them ALL over to me, give yourself to me and I will make of you a new self-in my image. Give me yourself and in exchange I will give you Myself. My will, shall become your will. My heart, shall become your heart."  
― C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity_

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Combat class after the incident was much easier than usual, the commander deciding that they needed some more basic training before learning complicated moves. Well, to say the class was 'easier' might be inaccurate, actually. The moves were easier to reproduce, but the energy it demanded was colossal. Not only did he make them practice every single move they had learnt to this day, he also made them run laps around the sports field, do pushups, squats, sit-ups and made them practice the plank. After what, they went back to running around the field...

Surprisingly, the commander did every exercise with them. He actually ran more laps, did more pushups, squats and sit-ups and held the plank longer than any of them... He was obviously started to feel tired as well, but he still kept pushing himself even when he gave them a break. Lucy frowned as she looked at him. He was on the other side of the field, still running.

"Did he eat a lion or something," she mumbled to herself.

Loke chuckled, still laying on his back, trying to catch his breath. His face was very red and he was panting.

"I have no idea," he said. "He was acting weird when he came back, averting his eyes and mumbling to himself. Gray asked what was wrong and he started growling that everything 'perfectly fucking fine', to quote him. It's tiring, but it's funny."

"Speak for yourself," she retorted, "I stink of sweat and my whole body's aching..."

Loke laughed and sat up to grin at her.

"Want me to massage you tonight? I'm skilled with my hands."

"No, thanks."

Loke chuckled and collapsed back on the cold grass. The commander was still running.

"Maybe you should offer to massage him," Loke suggested. "He'll probably need it."

Lucy observed the commander. Loke was right, he was overdoing it. She wouldn't be surprised if his whole body was sore and stiff when evening came. Lucy imagined him shirtless, all muscles tight from his intensive training, drops of sweat running down his chest to his lower abs and disappearing under the fabric of his pants. She didn't think she would mind giving him a massage.

"Stop saying stupid things," she groaned at Loke.

"You're blushing," Loke noted.

"I'm not."

"You sure are."

"Shut up."

When the commander came back, he told them to do some stretching and asked Gray to help him out. Lucy paired up with Loke, as usual. Her friend applied light pressure on her back to help her stretch the muscles efficiently and she heaved a deep sigh of relief, barely holding back a moan that would have caught her friend's attention and triggered lewd jokes. When she lifted her eyes, she found the commander already staring at her. He was leaning over his left leg, chest pressed against his knee and arms stretched out to hold his heel. He averted his eyes when she caught him, but she still had the time to see the dark look in them, the contracted jaw and the faint red tint on his ears, face and neck. She blushed and averted her eyes as well. He was probably still tired and hot from running around the field.

"I'm sorry to disturb you while you're fantasizing about our dear commander," Loke suddenly laughed, "but you're crushing me."

Lucy blushed even more when she realized that she indeed was pushing a bit too hard on his back. When Natsu finally told them they were good to go, everyone was sweaty, tired and sore.

"I can't even feel my legs anymore," Loke whined.

"Yeah," Gray agreed. "I thought we were starting to match his pace, but he's been holding back all along. That guy's a monster."

"You guys are just weak," Gajeel whizzed and panted, "it wasn't that hard."

Lucy scoffed and shook her head. Gray, though, openly made fun of him.

"What are you playing tough for?" he sniggered. "You can barely stand on your legs. You want us to carry you, old man?"

"Yeah, I saw you trip on your own foot about two minutes ago," Loke added.

"I'm going to slaughter you," the punk growled.

"How are you doing to do that if you can't even catch us," Gray laughed. "I still can run, you know. You don't look like you can, though."

"Speaking of running," Loke nudged Lucy with his elbow. "Look at that."

They all turned around to look at the field and saw that the commander had started running again.

"Seriously?" Gray mumbled.

Even Gajeel winced at the sight. Lucy arched a brow at Loke when she heard him snigger.

"He can't be doing this for pleasure," the young man smirked, "he's trying to vent his frustration."

"You want to talk about that in front of Lucy?" Gray asked.

Gajeel smirked and ruffled the blond's hair.

"You think that'll bother her? She's been living among us for months."

"True..."

"As I was saying," Loke went on with his dumb smile still nailed to his face, "I have a theory."

"Here we go," Gray scoffed.

"The commander can somehow detect the feminine smell Lucy emits."

"What the hell..."

"You think he's a dog or something," Gray sniggered.

Loke ignored them and pointed to the running man.

"Think about it, he's always angry when I joke about making out with her or when I touch her, but he doesn't give a damn about what the others do. And today, he suddenly couldn't stand still and had this weird, perverted look on his face. Why do think that is?"

Lucy sighed as Gajeel shook his head, not managing to hide his amusement.

"I'm not sure if I want to know," Gray admitted.

"Lucy's been wearing his shirt, that's why," Loke declared with a victorious smile. "He saw her sweat in it and stretch her muscles and groan in relief..."

"I didn't groan," Lucy grumbled, blushing.

"The point is," Loke ignored her, "he's trying to ignore the fact that she turns him on."

"This is stup..."

"This might actually be true," Gray laughed. "Natsu's never been an expert when it came to women, but this one's disguised as a man too! That would explain a lot of things, actually!"

"Maybe he knows that you're a girl," Gajeel suggested.

"I don't think so," Lucy retorted. "He would have asked for an explanation. And you're getting all worked up over nothing. He's been angry with me ever since he met me."

Gajeel scoffed and winced when his sore limbs throbbed painfully.

"And you never wondered why he's always upset at you even when did nothing wrong?" he asked.

"Though we have to admit that you often do something to piss him off on purpose," Loke smirked.

The young woman shrugged.

"I can't help it," she explained, "seeing his face makes me want to annoy him."

"Well, seeing you sweat in his shirt makes him want to run laps," her friend laughed again.

The boys kept teasing her until they reached the dorms, deciding that it was safer to stop talking about things that could give her away if anyone was listening to them. Loke let Lucy have a shower first because he needed to go see Erza for a moment.

Lucy lazily let her clothes drop to the cold tiles of the bathroom and stepped under the shower, turning the water on. Her whole body was still stiff and sore from training, but the only thing that really disturbed her was the mental image of the half naked commander she still hadn't managed to erase from her mind. She could still see his eyes when she closed hers, remember the way he stared at her with that dark, hard look. Her friends thought that Natsu could somehow sense that she was a girl and that having her around turned him on.

She took her sweet time under the shower, but the uncomfortable feeling pooling in her stomach just wouldn't disappear or ease up. She sighed. Loke wouldn't be back soon if he had things to discuss with Erza, she probably had enough time. Her hand reached down and she lightly bumped her forehead against the wall when her fingers brushed against the sensitive bud between her legs. She didn't rush her preparations and instead enjoyed the hot, but soft waves of pleasure that ran through her body before getting serious. The hot water seemed to increase the effect of her fingers' movements because she was soon panting and the hand supporting her against the wall clenched into a fist. She hadn't exactly had many occasions to relieve herself since she had enrolled in the Academy, so the sensation was stronger when she could do it.

Pretty soon, Lucy's overactive imagination decided to give a shape to the hot water running down her body. With her eyes closed, she could picture the commander's arms around her and feel his chest against her back. Her breathing quickened and she gritted her teeth to keep silent. Which she would forever thank herself for, because she heard the door of her bedroom open a second later.

"I'm back," Loke called from the other side of the door. "Are you still showering? Were you that dirty?"

Lucy inwardly growled and laughed at the same time.

 _"You have no idea_ ," her inner voice laughed.

She sighed, understanding that she wouldn't be able to finish and growled as she walked out of the shower to dry herself. She cursed as she struggled with the chest bandage, feeling edgier than usual, and shrugged her shirt on before exiting the bathroom. She smirked when she heard him curse when he noticed she had used up all the hot water. When he got out, he accused her of bullying him and demanded that she massaged his aching back to make up for using up all the hot water. She obviously refused and they exited the room to go to the refectory.

At their table, Gray and Gajeel were arguing over something that was probably childish and in which she had no interest. Yes, she was still upset and edgy from having been interrupted. It would take her a moment to calm down. She sat next to Loke and sighed in relief when she noticed that the commander wasn't there. She was pretty sure she wouldn't be able to look him in the eye if he had been there. She ignored her friends' conversations and ate in silence, only lifting her eyes when Loke cursed.

"What is it?" Gray asked.

Loke was holding a rather stylish fountain pen in his hands, frowning at it.

"It's Erza's," he said. "I forgot to give it back to her."

"Then, go give it back."

Loke winced.

"I can't. I have to go see Makarov after diner."

Lucy took it from his hand and focused back on her diner.

"I'll just give it back for you," she assured.

"Don't stab anyone with it," Loke joked.

She glared at him and it made her friends laugh.

"What's wrong, now?" Gray asked. "You weren't that grumpy when we left the field."

"Mind your own business," she groaned, "I'm just tired."

"Seems like the commander isn't the only one who needs to vent his frustration," Gajeel sniggered.

Lucy turned her head to glare at him – and possibly to insult him – but she didn't even have the time to open her mouth before another voice was heard from behind her.

"What is it you said I need to vent?" the commander growled menacingly.

His voice sent shivers down her spine and, in her head, she was suddenly reliving her shower fantasies. It only lasted for a second, but it was enough to send her blood rushing to her cheeks and harshly remind her that she hadn't been able to release her pent-up frustrations. She jumped to her feet, picked her tray and walked away from the table, mumbling a quick: "see you later." Since she didn't really have anywhere to go and she obviously couldn't go back there, she headed to the medical wing to hand back Erza's pen.

The redhead was – fortunately – in her office when she got there. She didn't bother to knock and casually invited herself in. Erza nodded at her to acknowledge her presence, but kept writing something on her computer. Lucy sat down in front of her desk and waited.

"Sorry about that," the redhead sighed. "There are many erroneous depositions about the Butcher and it's part of my job to find out what is right and what is wrong."

Lucy nodded comprehensively. It was not like she had anything better to do, anyway.

"It's fine," she assured. "I came to give this back."

She put the pen on the desk and Erza arched a brow.

"I hadn't even noticed its disappearance," she admitted. "Did you ditch your friends at the refectory just to come here and give it back?"

Lucy blushed and averted her eyes.

"Not really," she mumbled. "I wasn't very hungry."

The doctor frowned at the young woman.

"It's not good to skip dinner," she said. "Is anything wrong? Are you sick?"

Lucy shook her head and sighed, rising from her chair.

"No, no, I'm fine," she assured. "Don't worry about m..."

"Lucy." The redhead pointed to the seat sternly. "Sit."

The young woman obeyed, pouting like a five year old brat.

"Talk," Erza ordered.

"It's nothing," the blonde sighed. "It's just something the boys said..."

The older woman frowned in worry at this.

"Do they have a problem with your past?" she asked. "Do you think one of them could talk?"

"What? No," she shook her head. "I didn't even tell them about my past yet."

"Why? Don't tell me you still don't trust them..."

"Of course I trust them," Lucy groaned. "They just didn't ask and I'm waiting for the right time to bring it up."

Lucy spent the next ten minutes promising her redhead friend that she was fine and Erza said she'd eat with her the next day, to make sure she actually did eat enough. It made Lucy chuckle to see her behave like her mother. She could have been a great friend for Michelle.

"Before you go back to your room," Erza said, "could you do me favor?"

Lucy shrugged and nodded.

"Sure, what do you need?"

Erza gathered several files and pointed to red one.

"Natsu has a complementary file," she explained, "it's the same color as this one and has the same code on the first page, see? I don't have the time to go there to get it, but I _urgently_ need it, it's crucial. Could you go get it for me?"

Lucy tried her very best not to let any emotion show on her face, knowing that her friend was surprisingly perspicacious when it came to those things.

"Sure..."

She exited the room and climbed down the stairs slowly, gulping. She walked out of the building to be confronted to the biting cold that did nothing to alleviate the uncomfortable warmth that spread through her body from her stomach. She took a deep breath in as she got closer to the dorms.

"Act natural, Lucy," she whispered to herself, "he'll probably be mean to you anyway, so you won't want to jump him."

A strong gust of wind sent shivers down her spine and she was glad that she was wearing the bandage, otherwise anyone would have been able to see her hardened nipples.

She felt warmer as soon as she entered the dorms, though. She climbed up the stairs and noticed that the corridors were completely silent. Most of the recruits still eating, apparently. She took left at the end of the corridor and walk down the new corridor to stop in front of the commander's door. She waited, hesitant. It was stupid to worry about it, it wasn't like he could read her thoughts. She'd just ask for the file and leave.

She knocked on the door and waited. Nothing. She knocked again. Still no answer. Damn, Erza said it was crucial for her to get the file back. She knew that it was wrong, but Lucy was feeling brave, she grabbed the handle and pushed it: the door opened. The young woman checked the corridor to make sure she was alone and entered the room. Since she had been there before, she didn't waste any time looking around and directly went to see if the file was in the drawer of the nightstand. Bingo, she grinned as she took it out. Now, she only had to get out and it will be as if she never even came. And, of course, at the exact moment she was going to open the door again, she heard voices from the other side of the door. She froze.

"Yeah, I'm almost done," the commander assured, "I'll give the list to Gramps tomorrow."

"Alright," someone answered – Laxus from what Lucy could hear – and walked away. "I'll see you tomorrow, then."

"Yeah."

During this – very – short conversation, Lucy flew toward the wardrobe, entered it and closed the door. She almost laughed when she remembered the first lesson of a student officer: a soldier must always keep his composure, no matter the situation. " _Nice job,_ Lucy," she inwardly cheered, " _that was a very wise move! You could always have explained the reason of your presence to him, he would have understood. But now that he's entering the room, you can't possibly just walk out of the wardrobe and say hi!"_ The commander sighed as he dropped his sports bag beside his bed, right in front of the wardrobe. Why was here? Shouldn't he be going to the refectory at that time?

Through the slit between the door and the wall, Lucy watched the commander throw his shirt to the side and crash in his bed. A long moment passed and Lucy started to really regret acting before thinking. This was ridiculous, she had to get out of this wardrobe. She would just tell him that she panicked and did something stupid, but she didn't do anything wrong. She was gathering her courage to do just that when she heard a growl from the slumped form on the bed.

"Damn," he mumbled, "you just had to go see if everything was ok, you idiot..."

Lucy frowned, wondering what he was talking about. His voice was low and rasping and ripped Lucy of every ounce of courage she had managed to muster. She stood still and waited. Maybe he'd leave soon... She waited as he turned and shifted on his bed, cursing and mumbling to himself about some stupid door that needed a lock, if Lucy heard right. She almost blenched when suddenly sat back up and pushed himself to the edge of his bed. He walked to his door and Lucy couldn't see what he was doing, but she heard him turn the lock. She frowned. Was he going to sleep already? It was still pretty early...

She heard the clinking of something metallic and her eyes widened when she saw him crash back in the bed, hands on his belt. His whole body was tense and the look in his eyes had never been this dark before, at least not in her presence. He lifted his hips off the mattress and Lucy had a nice view of his abs contracting as he did so. Her eyes widened when she saw him tug at the waistband of his pants and underpants, his right hand slipping under the underwear a second after she caught a glimpse of the large bulge underneath the fabric.

Oh.

Lucy managed to avert her eyes from the – very – appealing scene for about five seconds. She couldn't believe she was going to watch that. He groaned when his hand wrapped itself around his length and she gulped when he closed his eyes. She'd probably be ashamed of herself for peeping at him – " _not peeping, Lucy,"_ her inner voice corrected, " _you watched the whole show attentively"_ – but she simply couldn't help it. When she fantasized about him under the shower, it had only been about sensations and imagination. Now, she had the real deal under her eyes and she enjoyed the live visual as well.

She gritted her teeth and inwardly cursed when she felt a familiar throb come back to life between her legs. She really should have taken care of that earlier... Gosh, she really was a pervert... The sensation worsened when she noticed that the commander's slow movements were speeding up, as well as his breathing. His pants slid down and Lucy started to feel uncomfortably hot in her wardrobe when she noticed she had a much clearer view of his hand working beneath his underwear. She had to press her thighs together when she heard him growl again.

He then took a deep breath in and forced himself to calm down, only massaging the throbbing member slowly. Lucy almost growled in frustration and disappointment: how long did he plan to take before finishing? He was killing her there! With her left hand, the young woman rubbed the back of her neck in a vain attempt to calm herself down, only to mentally berate herself when she noticed that her right hand was already between her legs. Damn, her own body was betraying her.

Lucy tried closing her eyes to decrease the intensity of the warmth throbbing in her lower belly and between her thighs, only to find out that you didn't need your eyes to excite your imagination. She couldn't see Natsu's hand move up and down his sex anymore, but she could hear him pant and hiss and groan and the sounds didn't help her at all. She also involuntarily focused on the smell in the room. It wasn't the unpleasant smell produced by bacteria on the skin when one sweated, it was more like the way your skin smells after having been exposed to the sun for a few hours. It was hot and intoxicating. Good Lord, she was going to die in this wardrobe.

She opened her eyes again and watched through the slit as the commander's hands started moving faster again. He contracted his jaw and the muscles of his arm bulged as he kept speeding up. He had a really tight grip on himself and Lucy briefly wondered how he didn't feel any pain when handling his member with so much brutality. The question didn't bother her for more than two or three seconds, though, as she saw him pant more and heard louder groans and hissing noises. Lucy herself was reaching her limits, she didn't think she could keep sitting in this fucking wardrobe for much longer. She was undeniably and ardently turned on.

"Fuck," he growled.

A minute later, he loudly hissed one last time and his hand came to a stop. He bent down to grab a pack of tissues and wiped himself. Afterwards, he leaned against the wall for a moment, steadying his breathing. Lucy caught a glimpse of his firm butt when he stood up and walked to the bathroom before closing the door. She waited for a moment and finally heard the water being turned on. Taking this as her cue to leave, the young woman opened the door of the wardrobe and silently walked toward the door, her file still under her arm. She unlocked it and exited the room, barely daring to breath.

The freezing cold of the night air did nothing to cool her heated body down and her head was still spinning when she entered the medical wing and practically sleepwalked to Erza's office. She knocked weakly on the door and Erza had to tell her to come in twice before she actually entered the office. Erza raised her eyebrows when she saw her friend's very red face and her strange behavior.

"What's wrong?" she asked, worriedly. "What happened?"

Lucy shook her head and averted her eyes as she walked to the desk to put the file on it.

"Nothing," she mumbled. She loved Erza dearly, but this was a bit too embarrassing to tell... "I have to go."

"Yeah, right, you wish," the redhead retorted. "Sit and talk."

"Damn..."

Lucy realized she had cursed out loud when her friend smirked in victory and pointed to the seat in front of her desk.

"I'm all ears," she assured.

Lucy's face caught fire as she told Erza that she had to enter the room without the commander's permission and how she panicked when she heard him come back.

"I hid inside the wardrobe..." she confessed. "I didn't mean to spy on him or anything, I just didn't think..."

"Yes," the doctor nodded, still not understanding why her friend looked so shaken.

"And... I... he..."

Lucy then proceeded to tell her friend about the private show she got, trying not to sound as if she had been very happy with her predicament. Erza opened wide eyes as she listened to her young friend and Lucy glared at her when she noticed that she was having a hard time holding her laughter back.

"It's not funny..."

Erza couldn't help but chortle when she heard her friend's sulking voice and saw her childish pout.

"Sorry, but I can't agree with you on this," she chuckled. "I think it's very funny, on the contrary. They were so many ways you could have used to get out of there... But, well, I'm not judging you or anything. I mean, you're a healthy young woman and Natsu's a good-looking young man, so it's only natural that you'd..."

"I'm leaving," Lucy interrupted as she rose from her seat and turned to leave.

"Wait!" Erza laughed. "I'm sorry, I'm not laughing at you, but it's just so funny, hahaha! I'll see you at breakfast tomorrow!"

Lucy closed the door without answering, but she wasn't really angry at her friend and she was happy she'd get to eat with her the following day. She was just very frustrated at the moment and she couldn't bother being polite. When she opened the door of her room, she found Loke sitting on his bed, reading a comic. He arched a brow when he saw her.

"You ok?" he asked.

"Get out," she ordered.

"What?"

"Go hang out with Gray and Gajeel, or anyone else," she said, "it doesn't matter. Just get out for... I don't know, about half an hour."

Loke smirked as he put his comic down and slowly got out of bed.

"Why?" he chuckled. "You look very red, you know?"

"Be quiet and leave."

She could still hear him laugh when she closed the door, but he did stay away from the room for more than half an hour.

Lucy slept like a baby that night and didn't even mind that she was woken up by the loud snoring of her roommate. She cracked an eye open and looked through the window. The sky was dark grey and menacing. Nothing surprising there, it was almost November.

 _"Tell him I forgive him."_

Lucy frowned. She heard the words in her head as she was staring at a white cloud. Who forgave who? Were the words even directed at her, or did she hear them on TV or somewhere else? Loke shifted in his bed and Lucy turned her head to look at him. He stretched, yawned and rubbed his eyes sleepily before looking at her. She chuckled when she saw his strands of hair stick out in every possible direction. He grinned at her and sat up.

"You watch me when I sleep?" he asked. "How romantic."

Lucy scoffed and sighed as she pushed herself off the mattress.

"I just woke up too," she answered. "I slept so well I'm not sure if I'm really awake."

Loke chuckled.

"I know what you mean."

They heard knocks on the door and Loke groaned as he stood up and went to answer it, Lucy noticing only then that he had slept in only his underwear. Loke was good-looking, even she could see it, but he didn't make her blush or feel uncomfortably hot or anxious like Natsu did. It was incontestable that the attraction she felt toward the commander easily surpassed any other. When she looked at Loke's bare back, her mind immediately brought back images of the commander's bare torso, the previous evening, as his hands reached down. Lucy groaned and hid her head under the covers. She really was hopeless.

"Yes?" she heard Loke say at the door. "Oh, good morning, commander. To what do we owe the pleasure of your early visit?"

Lucy's heart hammered furiously in her chest and she looked over her cover to see the commander standing in her doorway. He glanced at Loke's appearance and then at her. His jaw contracted and she swore she saw his fists clench dangerously. He breathed in deeply and focused his attention back on Loke.

"I have a proposition for you both," he said, "do you have a moment?"

Natsu entered and Lucy's panic increased. Since Loke knew about her, she stopped wearing her bandage at night. She clutched her blanket to her chest as the commander briefly looked at their beds, only to decide to keep standing, arms crossed over his chest, even when Loke offered him to sit on his bed.

"I'll be quick," he assured. "Luc heard about it yesterday, there's a serial killer going berserk in town and we're forming teams to arrest him. It will be a dangerous mission, so feel free to decline, but would the two of you join my patrol?"

Loke's eyes widened, Lucy had forgotten about this, so she hadn't told him about the Butcher and the patrols.

"Well, this is unexpected," Loke mused out loud.

"You don't have to give me your answer right away," the commander said. "I'll give Gramps the names of the selected members at noon."

"I agree."

Loke stared at Lucy in surprise, raising his eyebrows.

"That quickly?"

Natsu's eyes _finally_ found hers and she nodded.

"I volunteered yesterday," she told Loke. "I haven't change my mind."

Loke smiled, amused, and shrugged when he turned to the commander again.

"Well, we're both in, then," he grinned.

The commander nodded and turned to the door, making sure not to look at any of them.

"Fine," he said. "See you later."

And with this, he left. Loke closed the door and turned to her, frowning in confusion.

"He didn't look too well, did he?"

She nodded.

"Well," she said, "he'll be the only one to suffer the consequences if we can't catch this killer in time. It would make me anxious too."

"Right."

Truth be told, she wasn't convinced by this explanation either. She could see that the commander was being colder than ever lately, he took his distances with the recruits, and call her paranoid if you want, but she was pretty sure that he was doing everything he could to avoid her. He didn't come to the refectory for breakfast and Lucy hated to admit that it bothered her more than it should have. Erza even came to join them, but it wasn't enough to reassure her and lift her mood.

First period was Mathematics and Lucy sat by the window, as usual. She mostly ignored her teacher, she didn't understand anything about exponential functions last time she checked, she wouldn't miraculously get it today. She stared out the window and soon realized that someone was running laps around the field. She squinted her eyes to try and recognize them, but to no avail. She remembered the way the commander kept running the previous day, even when he already looked exhausted. Was he the one running today too? His limbs would become sore again if it really was him. Sore and stiff. Lucy gulped, her mind replaying the scene from the previous evening in her head.

She didn't know why the commander was behaving weirdly lately, but it didn't change anything for her: he could be as cold and distant as he wanted with her, she still wouldn't let _them_ send him to Joya. She wouldn't let them take him away too. Of course, she was aware that her attachment to Natsu would only cause problems for her in the near future, but she was pretty sure that living away from him would only make things worse for her. She scoffed when she thought of her original plan: nothing was going as planned, but she couldn't exactly complain about it.

"Hey, sleepy head," the teacher called her. "I'm talking to you. Come to the board and solve this."

Lucy frowned, looked at the board, saw that the teacher had written incomprehensible things and realized that she didn't even know how she was supposed to start.

"Come on," he insisted, holding his chalk in front of him.

"Ugh," Lucy groaned as she stood up.

* * *

oOo

* * *

Lucy sighed as she slumped in her seat, dropping her tray on the table.

"I hate maths," she groaned, "and I hate Bob."

Gray chuckled and raised a brow.

"What happened?"

Lucy groaned and let her forehead bump against the wooden table.

"Don't ask..."

Gajeel sniggered while munching his chicken, only looking up to send her a mocking look.

"Bob asked her to help him with a demonstration," he explained, ignoring Lucy's glare. "Turned out he wanted to show us that the navel is actually a very ticklish place. Don't ask me why, the only thing I understood was that this idiot's here is very ticklish."

"She yelped and slapped his hand away," Loke added, "I laughed so hard I almost peed on myself."

The boys laughed loudly, but stopped talking about it when Erza, Elfman, Sting and Rogue joined them. When they were all reunited, saying ''her'' when talking about Lucy, or hinting at her true gender was obviously out of the question. So, instead, they made fun of Sting, who had apparently tried to steal roses from the garden to give them to a nurse-in-training.

"If you want to offer flowers, you have to buy them, you moron," Loke teased him.

"Where do you want me to find a florist here?" the blonde brat retorted. "We almost never leave the academy!"

"Why don't you take her out on the week-end?" Lucy suggested.

Sting stared at her with a dumb look on his face, his cheeks quickly turning red.

"Look who's being shy," Gajeel smirked, "how cute."

"Shut up," Sting growled, blushing even more.

"It's manly to ask a girl out!" Elfman shouted.

The redhead doctor nodded approvingly at this.

"It is, indeed," she agreed. "You should go for it."

"She looks interested in you as well," Rogue noted.

"You can't ignore a girl's feelings for too long," Gray said.

Lucy sniggered and arched a brow at him.

"Look who's talking," she retorted.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

They kept teasing each other and making childish jokes until the doors of the refectory were abruptly pushed open and the commander walked in: all conversations died right away. Erza jumped to her feet and quickly walked toward him. He was panting, but this time it didn't make Lucy feel warm or anything. His clothes were clinging to his sweaty body, making it obvious that he was having difficulties breathing. But the most worrisome thing was the blood on his forehead that ran down his face on his left cheek.

"What in the world happened to you?" Erza asked.

Natsu shrugged her off and picked up a tray to go get food.

"I tripped and fell," he answered, "no need to freak out. I'll go wash after I ate."

"You've been running all morning?"

The commander shrugged, put an apple on his tray, beside his plate and coffee. He walked toward their table, Erza right behind him.

"Yeah," he said. "Why do you sound so surprised? I train everyday."

He dropped his tray on the table and Lucy froze when he sat right beside her. Erza sat in front of him.

"There's a large difference between exercising for two or three hours a day and running non-stop for six hours!"

"I didn't run non-stop," the commander corrected, "even I need breaks sometimes."

"You got dizzy and fell," the doctor pointed.

"Things like that happen all the time," he argued. "Now, if you don't mind, I'd like to eat. Can you hand me the salt?"

It took Lucy ten full seconds to understand that he was talking to her. She looked at him dumbly and saw him arch a brow at her.

"Well?" he repeated. "The salt?"

She gave it to him and kept observing him as he started eating. Despite his condition, he looked much calmer than he had this morning. And it was always a good sign to have a good appetite, so there was no need to worry about the commander, really. He was right, it wasn't uncommon to trip and fall while running, and his cut didn't look deep or dirty. But, deep down, Lucy knew that running for so long wasn't normal. And she knew that his extremely dilated pupils weren't normal either.

* * *

 **End of chapter 18**

Hello again. So, I don't really know what to say. I don't think the scenes were that explicit, but if it was too much for you, you'll have to skip some later chapters that will be far more intense, haha!

Please, do let me know what you've thought of this chapter, it will help me take some decisions for the way I'll write the upcoming mature scenes.

On another note, I got messages saying that some reviews you guys sent didn't appear on the site. I contacted to tell them about it, I hope they'll solve the problem soon!

Once again, thank you very much to everyone who showed their support by leaving reviews, I read all of them and you guys are just so kind to me, haha! I seriously love you! Thank you to those of you who favorited or followed the story.

Finally, to the Tumblr user _nalufanficreblog_ , you called yourself a nobody when you shared my fic on the site. Well, thank you very much for being such an awesome nobody, I'll keep your name in mind!

Reminder: Loke and Lucy are just friends and I won't change that fact in my story.

* * *

Questions/Answers:

Q (from almost everyone): Who was it that saw Lucy?

A: For the sake of the plot, I can't say it clearly yet, but I think it's pretty obvious now, haha!

Q (from LadyPugtato): What is your upload schedule for all your stories?

A: I don't have a schedule, I just post the chapters when they're ready, haha!

 **Next chapter coming soon!**


	19. Chapter 19: The Hunter and the Prey

**PART I – Resolution**

Chapter XIX – The Hunter and the Prey

* * *

" _The truth." Dumbledore sighed. "It is a beautiful and terrible thing, and should therefore be treated with great caution."  
― J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone_

* * *

 _Manhunt – Day 1_

* * *

Lucy asked Erza if she knew anything about it, the next day. And the way the redhead tensed and suddenly couldn't meet her eyes anymore told her that she had been right to worry about it.

"You do know something about it, right?" Lucy insisted. "That's why you were scolding him for running for so long, yesterday. I know that whatever's up happened more than once: I saw him stand up even when it shouldn't have been possible in his condition, I saw his dilated pupils and I even saw him inject something to himself!"

The doctor sighed and awkwardly shifted in her chair, fiddling with a pile of files on her desk.

"It's private, Lucy," she explained. "Even if it's you, I can't tell you about it."

Lucy frowned, feeling her stomach clench and a knot form in her throat.

"So, there really is something wrong with him..." she breathed. "Is it... is it as serious as it was for Loke?"

Erza's jaw contracted and she closed her eyes.

"I can't tell you... I'm sorry."

Lucy gritted her teeth, trying to gulp down her already swelling up anger. Erza was doing her job, she got that, but her friend knew how this kind of things affected her! Her best friend had cancer, for God's sake! If Natsu wasn't suffering from an incurable disease, then she should just tell her!

"You really won't say anything?"

Erza's hard gaze met hers, unyielding.

"No," she confirmed. "I have work to do. Maybe you should go back to your room before the ceremony starts."

Lucy didn't need to be told twice. She stood up abruptly and turned to exit the office without a look back. She didn't go back to her room, though, knowing Loke wouldn't be there. Instead she walked to the sports field, where her friends were playing football. Gray waved at her when he saw her.

"Hey, nice timing," he grinned. "We need someone to take Sting's place. Loke kicked the ball way too hard and it hit Sting in the face."

"I'm totally fine!" the latter protested, blood streaming down from his nose.

"You need to go to the infirmary," Loke sighed.

Gajeel smirked and sniggered, arms crossed over his chest.

"True, you look really good right now."

"Sting's a man!" Elfman shouted from his spot in front of the goal. For some reason, he had a muddy footprint on his white shirt.

Lucy chuckled and sat on the grass.

"I'm tired," she yawned, "I'll just watch you play."

They bothered her some more, but eventually went back to play, allowing her to lay down and get some rest. Her thoughts drifted to the moment the general entered the refectory, earlier that day. _They were eagerly eating their well deserved lunch when the group of officers walked in. Makarov had been accompanied by the lieutenant, Mira, the lieutenant-colonel, and, of course, the commander. He told them that the counsellor they killed was officially missing and an investigation would start very soon. He also told them about the serial killer and the patrols. Lucy and Loke were both in the commander's team, as well as Gray and Gajeel. Elfman was in Clive's team with Sting._

 _"We'll start with one team per night," the general explained. "Tonight, the lieutenant-colonel Clive will take his team to town. Tomorrow, the commander's team will get to work. The night after, it will be the colonel's team. The night after, it will be the lieutenant's and the night after, we start over. If we're unable to catch the Butcher within six days, the academy will receive a sanction from the Octagon."_

 _Lucy had then glanced at the commander. He looked calmer than the previous day and he hadn't been running all morning either. Six days only._

 _"And finally," the general concluded, "I have an important announcement to make. Because of the inspection, we didn't get to properly congratulate and reward the winners of the Game. We'll do so tonight. All afternoon classes are canceled. You'll have a few hours free after lunch to get ready for the ceremony that we'll hold in the Arena, at 8 p.m."_

 _The Arena was a fairly new construction in the academy, behind the dorms. It was just what its name suggested: a covered, enclosed area, circular and designed to showcase combat demonstrations. Lucy had never seen the inside, so it was pretty exciting._

 _"After the ceremony for the winners," the general said. "I will officially give the names of the selected students and teachers who will be allowed to take part in the Academy's Tournament."_

 _Lucy's ears still rang from the loud applause that had ensued. Loke had to tell her what the Academy's Tournament was._

 _"The Academy holds it every year," he explained. "It's just a tournament where recruits and officers fight to see who's the strongest. Since the head of the Academy's the one to select the participants, we can never know in advance who will win. The prize is two hundred points and the winner gets to pick one of his defeated opponents and give him a penalty."_

 _"Sounds pretty funny," Lucy had said._

She opened her eyes and glanced at her watch.

"Guys," she called. "It's almost time to go. You better have a shower first."

"Are you implying that we stink?"

"Yes."

They had to put on their ceremony outfits: elegant white suits with golden buttons, their respective insignia, black and gold epaulettes, a golden chain on their left shoulder and a black and white kepi. Lucy thought it was a bit too formal for a small ceremony like that, but didn't bother protesting or even talking about it to Loke. Since it was so cold outside, they also had to wear their long military coats and black gloves. Lucy was sure it would snow soon. Loke exited the bathroom with a very satisfied smirk on his face.

"Don't I look gorgeous?"

Lucy chuckled and nodded.

"Yes, yes. Come on, now."

They found their friends almost as soon as they walked out of the dorms. Lucy had to admit that she tended to forget that she was surrounded by men, seeing as they always behaved like ten years old brats. But tonight, they all looked like respectable young men and she couldn't help but think that she really wanted to see the commander too. It wouldn't be her first time seeing him dressed in his ceremony suit, but she knew she would look at him differently now.

The Arena was already overcrowded when they got there. Everyone was excited for the party, but the real subject of interest was the list of names Makarov would give. And Lucy wasn't proud of it, but she hoped that she wouldn't be among them. Honestly, close combat wasn't the safest exercise to do when you're hiding your real gender from everyone. And not only was it dangerous for her secret, it was dangerous for her body too. She was no coward, but she wasn't stupid to the point of fighting in a Tournament where anyone could be an opponent. Why in the world would she want to fight against monsters like Clive, Gajeel, Elfman, Bacchus, Orga, and the list could go on forever. No, she'd rather be left out of this one.

Loke managed to find seats for all of them, except for Elfman and Sting, and Lucy was satisfied to see that they weren't too far from the fighting ring. The Arena was already crowded, but they were still lots of recruits that were coming in and had to look for empty seats. Loke and Gray argued about something completely irrelevant and Lucy ignored them, distractedly gazing at the other students. She recognized some of them, like Orga and Bacchus, but she realized that they were a lot of them that she didn't know as well. Loke suddenly grabbed her arm and shook it energetically.

"Hey," he almost shouted. "Look down there!"

Lucy looked over to where he was pointing, frowning. What was it that was so exciting? The blonde recruit saw them almost immediately: the nurses-in-training, sitting in the front row. Her friend waved enthusiastically when Cana turned around to grin at them. Lucy saw that Juvia was there too, sitting between Cana and Levy. They were talking and laughing with other nurses Lucy didn't know. Almost all the recruits tried to get their attention, whistling, waving or directly calling for them, but the girls didn't seem to hear them. Lucy knew that they actually didn't give a damn. Gajeel punched someone who said something indecent about small women, but the fight that should have ensued never happened, for Lucy and her friends immediately stood up to stand by their violent thug of a friend.

Silence violently fell upon the Arena when people appeared in the ring. Everyone sat down and stopped talking, only focusing on the officers. Jellal and Bisca were here too, but Gildarts had left the Academy a few hours prior with his team, so they'd miss the ceremony. Makarov was standing in front of them all, coming to stand on a small, wooden stepladder. Lucy gazed at Jellal and remembered that she still hadn't had an opportunity to ask Erza how in the world he became a teacher here. Ah, right, they were on bad terms at the moment...

"Hm, hm," he cleared his throat, "welcome everybody. As you all know, during this ceremony we will congratulate the winners of the Game and announce the names of the participants of the Tournament. Also, at the end of the semester, the updated ranking of the students will be displayed in the dorm hall."

Good, Lucy thought, with this she'd know if she was eligible for the Elite Squad. She had to admit that she had lost the count of her points.

"So, let's get started. First, the winning second years teams: Only Jellal's team managed to keep their flag!"

The Arena roared wildly as all recruits applauded and cheered loudly. Of course, part of it was to congratulate Jellal and his men, but truth to be said: everyone was very excited about the fact that the other second years had been defeated.

"The winning first years teams: Natsu's and Bob's teams both managed to steal a flag!"

This time, the noise was deafening and the vibrations that shook the Arena sent chills to Lucy's back. Everyone was acknowledging their worth. Makarov smirked and held his hands up to make everyone shut up.

"Yes, yes," he sang, "congratulations to the winning teams. Every member of those teams earned points, but some of them got more than the others."

Lucy froze.

"Now," the general declared, "we will reward the recruits that stood out during the Game. Let's start with Bob's team: Hibiki L, who falsified maps and data to set a trap and steal Goldmine's flag."

Hibiki was called to the ring and the crowd cheered loudly as he climbed down the stairs. He got to shake hands with the officers. He also got an official document stating that he earned an unknown – he never told anyone exactly how many - number of points and a bottle of champagne.

"Next," Makarov went on, "still in Bob's team: Ren A, who managed to put sleeping pills in more than thirty bottles of water, while being a prisoner of war. From Clive's team: Bacchus G, who fought and won against more than ten opponents on his own. From Laxus's team: Erik C, for blinding enemy soldiers with smoke grenades, freeing more than five prisoners of war in the same evening and stealing the enemy's flag. Also from Laxus's team: Mest G, who stole all food supplies of team Goldmine within one night and made them believe that team Gildarts was responsible for it."

Lucy clapped her hands for every recruit that was called to the ring and listened attentively to Makarov's explanations. She didn't even know most of the recruits that were being rewarded, but they definitely were awesome.

"And finally, from Natsu's team: Gray F, for fighting and winning against more than ten second years during the final assault. Also for being an important part of the rescue operation that led to the fight of the asylum."

Lucy and her friends jumped to her feet when Gray was called and shouted, applauded and whistled for him.

"Also from team Natsu: Elfman S, who was willingly hit by seven darts to shield his friends and allow his team to enter an enemy base. Jet S, who ran at full speed from dusk till dawn to give the commander a message from a scout who had located the asylum. Loke S, who blew a tree up to help his comrades escape with an enemy flag. And Luc H, who stole Gildarts's flag and kept it till the end of the Game despite his wounds."

Life could be very ironic when it wanted to. Lucy had been trying to blend in with the other recruits for months, making sure not to stand out, avoiding any form of spotlight. And now, she was the center of attention of every recruit sitting in the Arena. Her friends applauded, yelled, cheered loudly for her. And so was doing everybody else. It was intimidating to climb down the stairs knowing that all eyes were on her, including the commander's.

He smiled at her when she entered the ring and her heart hammered in her chest. She took the official document and the bottle of champagne from Makarov's hands, smiled and nodded distractedly when he congratulated her and walked toward the officers behind him. Mira hugged her and Lucy saw that her eyes were shining with glee and pride. She got to shake hands with Laxus, Jellal and the others, but her attention kept going back to the commander all the time. When she came to stand in front of him, she held her breath without even realizing it. He looked insanely good in his ceremony suit.

She blinked when he extended his hand and hesitatingly took it. His grip on her hand was firm, but gentle. He smiled at her and ruffled her hair, his thumb brushing against her ear. He smirked when he saw her shiver and bent down a bit to whisper something in her ear.

"Welcome to the snipers course," he said. Lucy stared at him with wide eyes and his smile softened. "You did very well, I'm proud to be your commander. You should go back to your friends now."

Lucy knew she was blushing fifty shades of red, she could feel her cheeks burning. But she couldn't help it: the commander rarely was this kind to her. She tripped on a step when walking up the stairs and heard her friends laugh at her. _I'm proud to be your commander_.

"What's that dumb smile on your face," Gray teased. "Did he confess his love for you?"

She frowned at him as she sat down.

"What?"

"We saw him bend down to say something to you," Loke explained. "We were trying to guess what it was when you tripped and there's also this simpleton smile you're sporting."

"You guys are just imagining things," she retorted with a lazy shrug.

"Oh, come on," Gajeel sniggered.

"Yeah," Loke agreed, "spill it! Something happened down there, right?"

A sly smile appeared on her face.

"Maybe."

"I knew it!" Loke exclaimed. "I just knew he'd lose it soon!"

"What did he say?" Gray asked.

"Nothing that concerns you."

"What!?"

"You're gonna talk! I'm going to strangle you until you do!"

While they were bickering, Makarov was finishing his congratulatory speech and the general got annoyed with the noise.

"Everybody, keep it down!" he ordered. "I'm sure everyone's happy for the winners, but we still have something to talk about."

Excited whispers ran through the recruits and Lucy heard the word 'tournament' several times.

"Indeed," the general smirked. "The participants of the Tournament. For the new recruits that don't know what the Tournament is: it's a fighting competition the Academy holds every year. The headmaster of the Academy is the one who chooses the participants that will be allowed to fight in the Arena. The prize is two hundred points and the winner gets to pick one of his defeated opponents and give him a penalty. The rules will obviously be explained in detail to the chosen recruits and instructors that will be selected. This year, fourteen participants have been selected."

A religious silence fell down on the Arena as the general purposely let them grow anxious with his own silence. He finally took a small piece of paper out of the pocket of his uniform pants and unfolded it before clearing his throat and looking at the crowd with solemn eyes.

"The fourteen participants of this year's Tournament are: instructor Jellal Fernandes, first year Gajeel, first year Sting, second year Bacchus, second year Kain, second year Bakel, instructor Gildarts Clive, instructor Natsu Dragneel, first year Elfman, first year Gray, second year Zancrow, second year Doriate, first year Luc. Congratulations to the chosen ones!"

Lucy froze as soon as she heard her name and her panic only intensified when she heard the other recruits congratulate her and wish they were in her shoes. Everyone was telling her how great an honor it was to have been chosen, how lucky she was. But she was having none of it: she had no intention of taking part in the Tournament. She'd call in sick the day before or something, but she wasn't fighting against the other monsters that had been selected.

"I'm not done talking, children," Makarov said. "I'm sure you all noticed, but even when I said that there would be fourteen participants, I only gave you thirteen names."

When everyone realized that there indeed was a mistake somewhere, they all sat down and listened to the small general, hoping that they'd be called to take part in the competition. Lucy had to admit that she wasn't exactly focused on anything at the moment, still thinking of ways to drop out of the Tournament without having to forfeit the fight, which would look suspicious.

"This year," Makarov went on, "there will be a very important change. We had numerous talks about it over the last few weeks and came to the conclusion that we could give it a try. Believe me, this is a very well thought out decision. This year, the last participant of the Tournament will be a woman: Juvia Lockser!"

The silence was deafening. Even Lucy was speechless. A woman was allowed to take part in the Academy's Tournament? She realized immediately that they all were witnesses of the first real change in the Academy's policy toward women. She couldn't imagine what Juvia had to go through to be allowed to fight with them. This was a huge progress, but how would her fellow recruits react to this? She was starting to grow anxious when Gray stood up, calmly, extended his arms and clapped his hands. Loke smirked as he glanced at her and they stood up at the same time to imitate her friend. Soon enough, everyone in the Arena was standing up and cheering even louder for Juvia than they had for their fellow recruits. They whistled, yelled her name, cheered for her, and Lucy was delighted to see such a positive reaction. Of course, some recruits refused to stand up, but it was still a major step in the right direction.

The rest of the night went smoothly, the instructors were allowed to spend the night partying with the recruits. There was food and drinks everywhere, music too. Gray never got a chance to go talk with Juvia as she, and all the nurses, were constantly surrounded by their idiotic comrades. Only Levy was left alone with Gajeel. Lucy and Loke were teasing Gray about his lack of guts when they heard shouting from behind them. They turned around to see an angry looking Cana stomping away from a dumbfounded Bacchus and toward them. The brunette spotted Lucy and smirked before walking toward her. When she was close enough, she wrapped her arms around her shoulders and whispered.

"You owe me one, so play along."

Before Lucy could interrogate her, and in front of her stunned friends, Cana pulled on the collar of her jacket and unhesitatingly pressed her lips against hers. Lucy's eyes widened, but she didn't pull away: she did owe Cana for helping her out at several occasions, but... seriously? She played along for a moment, but pinched the brunette when she grew a bit too bold and pulled away. Cana glanced over her shoulder to see if Bacchus was still there, but he had left. She smirked and patted Lucy on the shoulder.

"Thanks for that, we're even now. Bye."

And with that, she walked away, as if what she had just done was perfectly normal. Her friends stared at Cana as she walked away, but Lucy looked at the crowd around them: a lot of people had seen this. Good.

"What the hell was that about?" Gray asked.

Lucy shrugged.

"I don't know, but she strengthened my cover, just now."

"You bet she did," Loke laughed. "You got one of the hottest girls they ever met and you're also one of the Tournament's participants. Look at their faces, you'd be dead if they could shoot you."

She shrugged.

"I'm not going to fight in the Tournament," she declared.

"Are you going to forfeit?" Gray asked. "People will think it's suspicious. And if you're scared, just remember that Juvia will be fighting too."

Lucy glared at him.

"I'm not scared of being beaten up," she retorted. "And Juvia doesn't have to hide her chest."

Loke sneered at this.

"Don't worry, you don't have much to hide."

"You little... Even so, close combat is dangerous in my condition!"

"Yeah, yeah, sure," Loke chuckled. "I'm going to the restroom, see you later."

He walked away, leaving her alone with Gray. She turned to him and saw him already looking at her. They had been so busy lately, there wasn't enough time to ask questions about their past. Now, they had this time.

"Wanna talk?" he asked, as if reading her thoughts.

She nodded and they walked away from the party.

They sat on the old, abandoned tank behind the Arena and Lucy told Gray about her head injury.

"Since that day, I have had partial amnesia," she explained. "But lately, I started remembering some things, about _that night_ and about you."

Gray nodded.

"You also remember Michelle and Lyon," he repeated. "And you know that they were others with us, back in the ranch, but you can't remember who they were?"

It was Lucy's time to nod, then.

"I was hoping that you could tell me about them," she said.

Gray sighed and his eyes suddenly darkened, his mind plagued with painful memories. He shook his head and let out a weak, humorless laugh.

"You can't imagine how hellish the days that followed that night were for us," he admitted. "We were rescued by some allies that heard about what had happened, but not everybody made it out alive."

Lucy's heart clenched when Lyon's tear stained face appeared in her mind.

"What happened?"

Gray stared at her before checking that they really were alone.

"I'll be honest with you, I can't tell you the whole truth yet," he declared. "The two men that welcomed us after the attack of the estate were part of an organisation that was starting to annoy the army. They waited for the perfect opportunity to attack, and got it when Lyon went to tell them about you and your sister."

That's right, Lucy thought, Lyon betrayed us...

"Why?" she asked, voice shaking.

Her friend gritted his teeth in annoyance.

"That idiot believed that they would spare us if he cooperated," he growled. "They promised him that they wouldn't hurt anybody and he believed them. Gramps managed to get away because Silver stayed behind to hold them back..."

The young woman gulped and forced herself to ask her next question.

"Silver was your father, right? Did he... survive?"

Gray shook his head.

"No."

During the moment of silence that ensued, Lucy thought of her own father. She felt tears threaten to fall and had to blink them in.

"I'm so sorry," she breathed.

Gray nodded.

"When I opened my eyes, after the explosion," he went on, "you weren't there anymore. We looked for you all around, we screamed your name, searched the whole area for days. We were desperate. A few months passed and we still had no idea where you were. We decided to ask for Gramps's organisation to help us. That's how I learnt about your father being at the Pandemonium. We also learnt that the only way to enter the Pandemonium was to be part of the Elite Squad and go there as a guard, but I got hurt and had to delay my mission. My friend managed to go there, though. When he came back, he was hurt and refused to talk about what he had seen there. And then, on the day I enrolled here, I saw you standing among us, dressed as a guy. I couldn't believe my eyes, but I understood right away that you were here to do the exact same thing I was doing."

Lucy blinked, a million questions forming in her head. Before she could phrase them, Gray smiled.

"We never stopped searching for you," he assured, "but we never gave up on your father either. We're still trying to get him out of there."

This time, it was impossible for Lucy to fight her tears. She recently realized that she had trustworthy allies in the Academy, but Gray was now telling her that she had more allies outside. Allies that were fighting her fight.

"Who are you, guys?"

Gray laughed and ruffled her hair.

"That, I can't tell you yet," he said. "But I will. Soon. I promise."

"Why can't you tell me now?" she insisted. "Can't you at least tell me who was the other boy? The one who came to get Michelle and I, that night. Was he the one who managed to enter the Pandemonium? And, by the way, why are you in the army if your organization is fighting against it? Oh! I get it! You're a sp..."

Gray's large hand clasped her mouth and he looked around to make sure that they were still alone. He sighed when he realized that they were.

"I really wonder how you managed to stay alive all this time with that big mouth of yours..." he deplored. "I promised I'll answer all your questions soon, but I can't now because we're working on a big project right now and I don't want to endanger either the project itself or you."

"I'm endangering myself just by being here," Lucy reminded him.

Gray chuckled.

"Right," he agreed. "Still no."

Lucy didn't get anything else out of him that night, but she still felt much lighter afterwards. Whoever Gray was working for, their goal was the same as hers: they were allies. She'd get her father out of that hellish place for sure! Now, the only problem was that Gray was keeping her away from the real action and she didn't want it. She'd have to find a way to contact this organization on her own.

They went back to the party and found Loke laughing with Jet and Droy. Gray glanced at Juvia and saw that she was still surrounded by recruits. He contracted his jaw, but didn't do anything, which pissed Lucy off.

"Hey," she growled at him, "what the hell are you doing?"

He arched a brow.

"What? I'm not doing anything."

"Exactly," Lucy agreed. "You know very well that the only male recruit Juvia wants to talk to is you. Grow some balls and go get her."

Her friend's eyes darkened and he looked away, jaw contracting even more.

"Why the fuck would I do that? What she does is none of my goddamn business. And she's a participant of the Tournament. If she can't even deal with them, she should just give up."

Lucy kicked him in the shin and he yelped in pain, but didn't try to yell at her. Almost an hour passed just like that, with all of them laughing and talking happily together. It took some time for Lucy to notice the tingling sensation on the back of her neck and she turned around, not really knowing why she did it. The commander was there, sitting near a group of second years, staring at her.

Lucy noticed right away that he was tipsy: he was shamelessly staring at her with slightly glimmering eyes. She was too far away to know for sure, but she wondered if his pupils were dilated. He slowly stood up, his eyes never leaving hers, and nodded toward the hangars, behind the Arena. Lucy kept staring at him as he walked away, her stomach contracting and a knot forming in her throat.

"I'll be right back," she breathed before following after him.

"Where are you going?" Loke called.

"Somewhere you can't come with me."

She didn't waste any time arguing with her noisy friends and only walked faster toward the hangars that housed their patrol vehicles. It didn't take her long before she was close enough to the unlighted hangars to be cloaked in darkness. She could only hear muffled sounds from the other side of the Arena, attesting of the good atmosphere of the party and of her isolation. She continued to walk between the hangars, hugging herself to counter the biting cold. Where in the world was h...

A large hand suddenly grabbed her wrist and pulled her to the side, in the narrow space between two hangars. Her back pressed to the cold wall, she watched, dumbfounded, as the commander stretched his neck to check if anyone had followed her. When he was satisfied, he sighed and hid behind the wall as well, facing her. There really wasn't much space where they stood and Lucy could feel his body warmth through their clothes. Standing so close to him, the young woman had no choice but to remember vividly just how much stronger than her he was. His broad shoulders and chest blocked her only way out, not that she really wanted to leave, though.

"Sorry about that," he breathed, and she shuddered. "I had to make sure that no one would follow us."

Lucy gulped and took a deep breath to make sure her voice wouldn't come out weak or trembling. She may have lived the life of a fugitive, it didn't mean that she spent her young years sleeping under a bridge. Her adoptive mother liked to play tough, but she was a huge fan of romance movies. Lucy had seen a lot of scenes where the male protagonist pulls the female protagonist out of sight...

"It's fine," she hesitatingly assured. "What did you want to talk about?"

He didn't answer right away, too busy frowning at her neck. Since she couldn't check her own collarbone to see if something was wrong, she timidly gripped the hem of his shirt and weakly pulled on it to bring him back to reality.

"Commander?"

His eyes found hers and she thought that he looked a bit confused. She found it cute.

"Yes," he blinked. "Sorry, I'm a bit tired. Something came up and I thought I should tell you about it"

He took a step back to search the pockets of his jacket. When he found what he was looking for, he extended his hand for Lucy to take it. She did and unfolded the piece of paper. It was an official message from the criminal department of the capital's police stating that a dangerous serial killer was going rampant in the area. The warning message that Makarov never received, Lucy understood.

"Where did you find this?" she asked.

"A service agent found it behind a trash bin," the commander explained. "Did you see this?"

He pointed to the bottom of the piece of paper and Lucy frowned when she saw the handwritten notes.

 _''message to the general, got this before it was given to him. What do I do? ''_

Lucy's eyes widened and her breath caught in her throat. Her brain worked faster then than it ever did. Someone wanted to harm either the general or the other officers of the Academy. This person stole the official warning about the Butcher, knowing that the members of the Octagon would be pleased to replace one of Makarov's officers with one of their pawns. This person was working for somebody else and was probably part of the Academy.

Another thought emerged in her mind and yelled inside her head. This person was most probably Kyoka's spy. And Kyoka wanted to get rid of the commander: if she really was behind this, she wouldn't let them catch the Butcher before Natsu was sent to Joya. Her eyes widened even more when a terrible doubt came to her.

"Where did you say you found this?" she asked.

The commander's eyes were dark and she knew that he could understand her thoughts.

"Behind a trash bin near the medical wing," he said. "Whoever the mole's working for can enter the Academy whenever they want."

"It has to be Kyoka."

Lucy realized that she had said this out loud when the commander nodded.

"I agree," he gritted his teeth. "She's probably been here countless times and we never even noticed..."

He sounded angry and she couldn't blame him: she was angry at herself too. She'd never be safe anywhere, would she? Even worse, she was putting her friends in danger. A sad smile appeared on her face and she froze when the commander's hand reached up, his fingers brushing her cheeks, below her eyes.

"Don't cry when you're smiling," he whispered. "It's creepy."

Lucy got even more angry at herself when she realized that there indeed were a few tears running down her cheeks. She wiped them furiously.

"I'm not crying," she retorted, "I have dust in my eyes."

The officer smiled softly at his fierce recruit.

"Sure. Listen, I don't know how you feel about it, but I'm tired of waiting for that crazy bitch to come out and strike. I told Gramps about her." Lucy opened horrified eyes and he laughed. "Don't worry, I didn't say a thing about you. He also thinks that the mole works for her. We want to set a trap to catch her or her spy. We will meet tomorrow to form a plan, do you want to come?"

Lucy hesitated. If they really managed to catch Kyoka, and it was possible seeing as they were monsters in human disguise, they would come to learn the truth about her eventually. Lucy lifted her eyes to look at the commander. He had his flaws, of course, but she trusted him. She also trusted Erza, and Mira, and Loke, and the others. She was pretty sure she could trust Makarov and Laxus as well. Maybe even Clive. Maybe she could tell them about her and about what the Octagon did? They were willing to defy them to save Natsu, maybe they'd do the same for her if she told them the truth? And it wasn't like they'd catch Kyoka in just two or three days, she'd have time to prepare. She was tired of lying to them.

"Yes," she answered. "I'll come."

"Good," the commander nodded. "I'll come and get you when it's time. He walked away from her, but froze and turned around. Lucy frowned when she saw him smirk at her. "Oh, I almost forgot. Starting tomorrow, for safety reasons, Loke will share a room with another recruit."

Lucy frowned even more.

"What?"

"Yeah, I think he'll just move to Gray and Gajeel's room," he explained.

A room of three people? Lucy felt even more confused now.

"What about me?"

The commander's smirk darkened and she felt the cold even more strongly.

"Pack your things," he just said. "You're moving out too."

Lucy went to bed early, feeling confused as to why the commander refused to tell her her next roommate would be. Loke cried tears of despair when he heard and she had to knock him out to go to sleep. She didn't sleep very well, though, feeling anxious about what she was going to do. She would tell Makarov the whole truth about her, about her father and the Octagon. It was a terrifying thought. If the officers of the Academy turned against her, she was screwed.

* * *

 _Manhunt – Day 2_

* * *

The news traveled faster than a jet plane and shocked everyone. A member of Gildarts's patrol had disappeared the night before. While they were looking for the Butcher, the recruits separated and one of them never returned. His name was well known to everyone since he was the brother of a colonel: Elfman Strauss. Needless to say this efficiently sent the whole refectory into chaos. Elfman Strauss was just too strong to be kidnapped.

Makarov decided that the Academy would be placed on red alert until they found him. It was also decided that two teams would go on patrols each night, instead of only one. Lucy wanted to go look for him right away, no need to wait for the night to come, but the police insisted that they wanted to take care of things regarding the Butcher during daytime: to balance things between them. What a joke, the police of this area would never hold a candle to the Academy. Thus the blonde recruit stomped angrily through the main building almost all morning long, until a certain commander grabbed her by the collar of her shirt.

"Stop doing that," he laughed, "you'll dig holes into the floor. It's time for the meeting, come."

Inside Makarov's office were Gildarts, Bob, Jellal, Laxus, Mira, Erza and the general himself. Natsu told them that she was a witness that caught a glimpse of the spy once and that she wanted to assist them. During this meeting, it was decided that Jellal's team would assist Natsu's that night, it was also decided that they would set a trap to catch the spy or Kyoka herself. Lucy almost stopped breathing when they exposed their plan to her.

"Oh, I almost forgot," Makarov shrugged. "We discovered a rare species of worms in the lake, so no one's allowed near it anymore. That's all, everyone get to work."

Worms. Lucy almost burst out laughing. They knew that the Octagon was after their heads, after all.

When they exited the office, Lucy walked toward her room to get her bag.

"Where are you going?" a voice asked, playfully.

She shrugged and kept walking.

"To my room, I need my bag to go to my first class."

"Your things aren't in your old room anymore."

This time, she turned to frown at the commander.

"They've been moved to your new room with Loke and Erza's help," he explained. "I'll take you there."

Lucy did her best to hide her anxiety, hoping that whoever her new roommate was, he wouldn't rummage through her things. She got confused when she realized they weren't going in the right direction.

"The recruits' rooms are on the other side of this corridor," she pointed.

"I know."

He stopped in front of his room and opened the door. Another bed had been placed inside.

"Welcome to your new room," he smirked.

* * *

 **End of chapter 19**

Let me first apologize for the much too long wait, I had to act like a proper student for once and do some school work. I also want to thank everyone who sent reviews to tell me they loved this story, to share their theories with me, to tell me they couldn't wait to get more of this! You don't know how much this means to me!

We're getting to the main part of the story now. Next chapter: You've been waiting for it, it will finally happen in chapter 20!

Questions/Answers:

Q (from ArisuPandora): Why would his pupil's be dilated? I'm not really getting it. Is he sick or something?

A: You'll find out very soon!

Q (from Guest): But he must have noticed that his door wasn't locked anymore so shouldn't he be worried?

A: Excellent question! I can't give too much information yet, but he did notice!

The Last Valkyrie will be updated very soon, too!

See you soon!

 **Note: I created a poll, it will serve as a Popularity contest for the characters of this story! You can vote on my profil page!**


	20. Chapter 20: Protectors

**PART I – Resolution**

Chapter XX – Protectors

* * *

" _What is honor compared to a woman's love? What is duty against the feel of a newborn son in your arms . . . or the memory of a brother's smile? Wind and words. Wind and words. We are only human, and the gods have fashioned us for love. That is our great glory, and our great tragedy."  
― George R.R. Martin, A Game of Thrones_

* * *

It was pretty obvious that Lucy's gaze was focused on nothing, but her friends still sent worried glances at the wall, in case there was something weird on it. They found her sitting at their usual table, in this condition, when they entered the refectory to get lunch. They had to wait for Loke to join them to understand what was wrong. Her former roommate slammed his hands on the table, right beside her, before grabbing her shoulders and shaking them furiously.

"How dare they separate us?" he yelled. "How cruel can they be!? It was already horrible to put me with the stripper and the thug, but you! You were kidnapped by the pervert commander! My poor love!"

Lucy didn't react as her stupid friend hugged her and cried tears of despair. She was far too busy thinking about her predicament. Starting tonight, she'd share a room with the commander... Well, they'd spend most of the night outside, chasing the Butcher, but they'd have to go back sooner or later. Damn it all to hell, she was screwed in so many ways it wasn't even funny anymore!

 _"What a foul language you have,"_ her inner voice sniggered. " _I say it's a good thing. Now, it'll be almost impossible for you to keep your secret. And when he finally knows the truth, he'll wait for you to be alone with him in his room and_..."

Lucy shut her stupid inner voice out so she didn't have to listen to her own perverted thoughts, which would undoubtedly conjure unneeded images of a stripping commander. Ugh, she was imagining it...

 _"Pervert_ ," her inner voice declared. " _I'm shocked. My innocent eyes are bleeding_..."

Thankfully, Sting started to complain about a test that they would have in the afternoon, successfully taking Lucy's attention away from her inner turmoil.

"I'm totally going to fail," the blonde man sighed. "I don't understand a thing about Science..."

Lucy emptied her glass of winter and wiped her mouth with the sleeve of her shirt.

"What part don't you understand?" she asked. "I can give you some explanations now if you have your books with you."

Sting's eyes shone with glee and gratitude as he enthusiastically nodded and rummaged through his bag.

"I do!" he exclaimed. "Thanks a lot, dude!"

Lucy chuckled. He really looked like a little boy most of the time.

"No prob..."

Before she had a chance to finish her sentence, a large hand brutally grabbed her shoulder and forced her up. In the very next second, another hand grasped the collar her jacket and she was forcefully turned around to face an angry looking Bacchus.

"Hey again," he smirked darkly.

The whole thing lasted less than two seconds, all of her friends abruptly jumped from their seats to push him away from her. Bacchus raised both hands in mock surrender, not looking impressed in the slightest.

"Easy boys," he drawled. "I just wanted to say hello."

"You don't need your hands to say hello," Gajeel growled menacingly.

Bacchus then smiled brightly and clapped his hands in victory before pointing a finger at Gajeel.

"True!" he exclaimed. "I totally agree with the delinquent. But since our friend here seems like a touchy-feely person, I figured I'd play along too."

Lucy shoved her hands in her pockets and shrugged, purposely trying to look bored. She knew why Bacchus was so pissed at her, but she had no intention to waste her time reassuring him.

"She's the one who came to me," Lucy retorted. "Maybe you're not enough anymore."

Bacchus growled and took two menacing steps toward her, before Sting violently pushed him back. Lucy was surprised to see Bacchus stumble backwards, her blonde friend was apparently stronger than he looked.

"Hands off," he repeated.

"Hey! What are you guys doing over there?"

They all turned around to find that Laxus was glaring at them from a table near the door. Bacchus raised his hands once more and smiled.

"Nothing," he said, "I was just saying hello." He turned to Lucy and added, "I'll see you again in the arena. Without your friends, this time."

With that, he walked away and exited the refectory. The good thing about that incident was that she completely forgot about her new roommate. The other good thing about it was that she was now absolutely sure that she would not compete in the Tournament.

"We'll think of an excuse," Gray agreed. "It would be very bad if you had to fight him." His jaw contracted and he clenched his fists. "It would be bad for anyone to fight a pissed off Bacchus..."

Right, Lucy thought. Juvia might have to face him during the Tournament... Lucy didn't know why the young nurse wanted to compete against trained recruits. Sure, nurses had to train too, but their training was nothing compared to the recruits'. How could the general agree to this? Maybe Lucy should compete, in the end. If she was a participant, it would be easier to keep an eye on Juvia and intervene if necessary. Lucy's thoughts went back to the day she was taken prisoner and she clenched her fists. She still wanted to take her revenge.

"I'll fight him," Lucy suddenly declared, "and anyone I have to fight. I'll compete in the Tournament."

Her friends opened wide eyes and stared at her with various emotions. Sting looked delighted, but Loke opposed her decision and so did Gray. Gajeel didn't look like he was interested, but Lucy knew he was paying attention to their conversation.

"It's far too dangerous," Loke protested. "The other participants are monsters."

"That's right," Gray agreed. "Forget what I said at the party, I was drunk. Don't fight with them. I wish Juvia wouldn't fight either."

"Why don't you ask her to forfeit?" Gajeel asked.

The attention of everyone then shifted from Lucy to Gray, who looked very gloomy.

"I did," he growled. "She refused."

Was it astonishment they felt? Incredulity? Whatever it was, neither Lucy nor any of her friends could believe their ears. Juvia Lockser, Gray's official lovestruck stalker, had refused to comply with his request. The girl that threatened to kill an officer for him, refused to forfeit. The girl Lucy caught trying to hide a spy camera in his bedroom, the girl who followed him everywhere he went, but never dared to approach him, the girl who almost fainted when he first smiled at her. This girl refused to do something Gray asked?

"You sure she understood your question correctly?" Gajeel asked, not believing it either.

Gray groaned and stood up, picking up his tray in the same movement.

"Yes, she did," he sighed. "She refused, that's all."

A long moment of silence followed his departure.

"Woah," Sting finally laughed. "Is the world coming to an end?"

Loke smirked as he stared at the door of the refectory that was still swinging from when Gray slammed it behind him.

"I don't know," he said, "but their relationship's going to evolve quickly from now on."

* * *

Before they had enough time to blink, they were sitting in their classroom, waiting as their instructor handed out the sheets. Lucy glanced at Sting and felt guilty seeing him looking so anxious. With what happened in the refectory, she forgot to help him review his notes.

"Ok, you can start," Bob declared. "You have two hours. Good luck."

The first part was Chemistry and Lucy knew the answers to all the questions. The second part was Physics and she finished it just as easily. It took her less than an hour to finish her test. Bob allowed her to leave the classroom since she was done and she waved at her friends as she walked out with a triumphant smile on her face.

She went to the library and sat in the back to start reading a new novel she had just received, a gift from a certain person that absolutely refused to lay low. Lucy told her before she left that she had to pretend they didn't know each other. She told her that she'd go against the brass soon and that every person she knew would be in danger when she did. But her adoptive mother wasn't the kind of person to agree to this and quietly wait for the whole deal to be over. Lucy smiled sadly, wishing from the bottom of her heart that she could go back home to eat a meal with her. Just spend an hour or two with her would be enough. But she would never put her in such a position, knowing that the Octagon would have a brand new way of pressure on her if she did. It was one thing to live there after she escaped death: the army was sure she was dead at the time. But now that she was in the academy, things were different.

She only got ten minutes of peace before someone came to bother her. Someone tapped her on the shoulder to get attention and she sighed as she closed the book to look at the person. She gulped when she found the commander crouching behind her. He told her to follow him in a low voice that sent shivers down her back and stood back up, extending a hand for her to take. She obviously didn't need his help to stand up, but she took his hand anyway. The commander probably didn't notice it, but Lucy's mind was completely freaking out over the fact that he was still holding her hand when he led them out of the library.

As they walked toward the doors, Lucy thought back on the time the commander told her she'd share a room with him, a few hours earlier.

 _"Wh... what?" had been her very wise reaction to the commander's declaration._

 _The commander's smirk had widened as he pointed to her bags, near her new bed._

 _"The general's worried about you since you saw Kyoka. And he's also worried about me since I've been threatened. He thinks it's best if we keep an eye on each other, we hit two birds with one stone. Safety measures. But it's fine, right? It's not like you have any reason to be upset about sharing a room with me."_

Yeah, it wasn't like she was hiding the fact that she was a woman from almost everyone. True, she had been thinking of telling him the truth, but it was _before_ he told her she'd start living with him! This changed everything! She came back to her senses when she realized they were walking toward the medical wing.

"Where are we going?"

"Erza's office."

The blonde woman frowned. She hadn't talked to the redhead doctor since their small argument from the day before. It felt so wrong being angry at her, she wanted to make up with her. Sure, the argument had been about a very serious matter... Lucy glanced at the commander, walking beside her with his head high and his back straight, like usual. He didn't seem to have issues breathing, he never coughed, didn't look tired and his eyes were normal. She averted his eyes when he looked at her.

"What is it?" he asked.

"Hm?" she still didn't meet his eyes.

He smirked.

"You were looking at me."

She shrugged, fighting her urge to kick his leg and run alone to Erza's office.

"Not really," she retorted, "I wasn't looking at anything in particular."

"Sure."

"Why are we going to Erza's office?" she asked, hoping to change the subject.

Natsu understood what she was trying to do, but chose to play along.

"We're actually going to meet with Jellal," he explained, "but he spends all his time in her office, so we're going there directly."

Oh yeah, Lucy inwardly smirked, Jellal and Erza. She still had to ask her friend how things were between them.

"What's that smirk for?" the commander chuckled.

"Nothing."

"Sure."

Natsu knocked five times on the door and waited for Erza to allow him to open the door before pushing on the handle. Lucy smirked, figuring the commander had made the same mistake she had when she had carelessly opened the door to Mira's office. After the usual greetings, they sat in front of Erza's desk and Lucy discreetly pointed at her own collarbone to make Erza understand they could see her hickey. The redhead blushed bright red and adjusted her white blouse, with Jellal trying to hide his amused - smug? - smile, beside her.

"Well," Erza coughed awkwardly, "let's start. We're just going to plan the route of the patrols for tonight, decide on the checkpoints, break times, and other details. Why did you bring Luc?"

The commander shrugged, a small, smug smile on his face.

"Gramps told me to keep an eye on him," he said, "that's what I'm doing."

The redhead arched a brow at them, but didn't push the issue. Though, Lucy really wanted her to. What was up with him all of a sudden? He was everywhere she was! She would even share a room with him!

 _"Oh please_ ," her inner voice sniggered, " _you're actually very happy with this. It's a perfect chance to get closer to him and this is exactly what you want_."

Ugh, she couldn't even lie to herself.

"Fine," Erza said. "First, Natsu, the general wanted me to tell you that he received another warning from the Octagon. They won't hesitate to blame you for everything if we fail to find the Butcher." Lucy gritted her teeth, but the commander didn't even react in any way. "So, now, about the routes of the patrols. I assume you'll want Natsu's team to go west and Jellal's to go east, but what about the rotations and the checkpoints?"

The officers talked among themselves and Lucy only distractedly listened to them as they took some important decisions about the patrols. For example, no one would be allowed to wander off on his own, they would form teams of three at the very least.

"We're going to focus on the place where Elfman disappeared," Erza declared. "We absolutely have to bring some valuable information back to the academy, otherwise..."

"Yeah," the commander agreed, "we don't want a remake of what happened last night..."

Jellal nodded solemnly and Lucy frowned.

"What happened last night?"

The officers turned surprised eyes to her.

"Oh, Luc," Erza blinked. "I actually forgot that you were here. Well, the colonel Strauss reacted very badly to the news concerning her brother, as expected."

"We caught her trying to get out of the academy in a patrol vehicle," Jellal explained. "She had four shotguns, a dozen of grenades and a precision rifle with her."

Lucy gulped, her eyes widening without her consent. The kind, sweet Mira that loved romance, puppies and unicorns tried to go hunt the Butcher by herself with a real arsenal in her car? Lucy gulped, this just showed how desperate and scared Mira was.

"Do we have a clue about where he could be?" she asked.

Silence and tense bodies answered her.

"Let's end this meeting here," Erza finally declared. "Inform your teams, you're leaving after dinner."

* * *

They were done eating at 7 p.m. and Lucy found Mira outside the refectory. The colonel led Lucy to an empty corridor and Lucy patiently waited as her older friend wiped a few tears.

"I'm so worried," she sniffed. "I couldn't get a wink of sleep and just thinking of eating makes me want to throw up."

Lucy hugged her and gently rubbed her back to soothe her, but didn't talk. She knew very well the distress the colonel felt: the torture of not knowing, the agony of imagining... She also knew that words almost never helped in this case. Only actions did. Yet, she still used words to try and appease the terrified colonel.

"I promise I'll do absolutely everything I can to find him," she said. "I won't come back empty-handed."

The colonel nodded and kissed her cheek, making her promise that she wouldn't do anything reckless.

"I won't," Lucy said, making sure not to make it sound like a promise.

She'd most likely be more than a little reckless during this hunt.

It was already 8 p.m. when they finally left the academy, dressed in black combat uniforms. The trip to the northern districts took a while and Lucy dozed off while listening to the purring of the engine and the cheerful conversations of her friends.

 _Tell him I forgive him._

The young woman cracked an eye open. Again with this? Why couldn't she remember where she had heard this or who had said it? The car drove over a big pothole and the violent vibrations forced the sleepy woman to wake up. She looked out the window and saw ramshackle buildings, burnt cars, whores and delinquents. Welcome to the northern district, alright. The cars parked near an abandoned gas station and the recruits got out, stretching and complaining about the cold. Lucy immediately started looking around. Most people were getting away from them, but none of them matched the description of the Butcher. None of them looked strong enough to beat and kidnap Elfman. The young woman blew on her gloved hands, it really was cold. Almost everyone was imitating her, blowing on their hands, bouncing on the spot and doing anything that might help fight the cold. Everyone except Gray, who was walking around with his hands in his pockets, jacket open.

"Crybabies," he smirked.

Loke kicked his leg and the commander ordered everyone to pay attention before a fight could ensue.

"For now," he explained, "we'll separate. My team will go west, Jellal's will go east. Once there, we'll separate into teams of 4, explore specific areas and meet at our checkpoint. If you have any question, ask them when we're there. Let's go."

While they walked, it got easier to bear with the cold. Unsurprisingly, none of them tried to make jokes as they walked along the creepy streets, always keeping the locals in their eyesight. One of them unzipped his pants and showed them his penis, making very provocative gestures. Gajeel growled and took his dagger in his right hand, already taking a step in the man's direction.

"I'll cut it off and shove it down his throat..."

"No, you won't," Natsu retorted. "Keep walking, we're almost there."

The checkpoint was a small house they requisitioned for the night and where they left all their stuff.

"First team to go," Natsu called, "Ren, Erik, Mest and Jet. You four take this zone, the one I marked on the map. Come back within two hours and we switch. Second team, Luc, Loke, Gray, Gajeel, you four will check that very same zone as well. Then, we switch teams and start exploring the next zone. If you find anything, push the red button on the device I gave you: it will indicate your position and I'll come to you with reinforcement. Any question?"

"Yes," Loke lifted his hand like a middle schooler. "What are we supposed to do during the two hours we'll have to stay here?"

The commander shrugged.

"Sleep, eat, play cards, I don't care. Anything else? Good. Go."

Lucy didn't enjoy the two hours of wait at all. She had joined the patrol to hunt the Butcher, because it was crucial that they found him soon! But now, not only Natsu, but Elfman was in danger too! She didn't want to sit around and wait! Loke tried to distract her as best as he could, but he was starting to lose patience as well. Thirty minutes before the previous team was supposed to return, they started to stretch and do warm ups. When they were good to go, Natsu gave them the device with the red button.

"Ok, as I said, you check this zone attentively. You have two hours. Don't do anything reckless: if you find something, call me, if you're in danger, escape and call me. Got it?"

"Yes, sir."

The four idiots decided to race to the zone and Gray won. Gajeel tried to pretend that he was a bit slower because of his strong and heavy muscles, but ended up becoming their laughing stock. They were quick to get to work, though. They checked the streets and buildings with meticulous attention, progressing through the zone, feeling their anxiety grow as time passed. Where the hell was Elfman? Lucy blinked when something cold landed on her neck and lifted her eyes. She squinted her eyes at the sky and smiled when she realized what was going on.

"Guys," she called, "it's snowing!"

Loke smiled brightly when a snowflake landed on his glove.

"Awesome!"

"Yeah," Gray agreed, taking his jacket off.

Lucy frowned at him.

"What the hell are you doing?"

Gray arched a brow and put his jacket back on.

"Oh, sorry," he said. "Instinct."

Of course...

"What kinda creepy instinct is that?" Gajeel snorted.

Two hours passed just like that and they had to go back to the checkpoint, empty-handed. Lucy felt extremely frustrated. Promises are meant to be kept, Lucy, you better find something next time. The first team left to go check another zone as soon as they entered the house. Lucy collapsed on the couch and groaned into the pillow. Gray and Gajeel went to get something to eat and Loke had to use the restroom. Out of nowhere, something warm covered Lucy's body and she turned her head to see the commander placing a blanket over her.

"Don't get cold," he said. "We need you in fine fettle."

She nodded and thanked him, bringing the blanket to her chin. She fell asleep, then. A gentle hand shook her awake less than two hours later and she tried to blink sleep away. Loke smiled at her and handed her a cup of coffee.

"I thought you'd like to have some before we leave," he said. "We're leaving in ten minutes."

Lucy nodded, accepting the coffee. It did help her. The rain was falling harder and, this time, they didn't race to the new zone. They still tried to make occasional jokes and made sure everyone was ok, but all the time that passed and gave no sign of Elfman was starting to take its toll on them: they were tired and anxious. More than an hour passed like that and Lucy started to worry for real. Why was there absolutely no sign of him? There should be blood or broken things somewhere to indicate that a fight occurred. But there was nothing!

 _Unless he wasn't captured..._

Lucy shuddered. There was no way Elfman would have willingly followed the Butcher. Elfman was a good man. The young woman felt furious at herself for even thinking about that possibility and kicked a rock out of her way. The small thing collided with a broken, rusty, half opened door and made a loud clang. Lucy stopped and stared at the door. Her friends were exploring houses at the other end of the street, but she knew they'd wait for her if she wanted to check this place. So she walked toward the door and kicked it down. The old thing didn't resist at all, and Lucy suspected that someone had opened it not too long ago. Inside, it was so dark that the young woman could barely see what her feet were walking on. She continued her exploration as far as she could, listening to any sound she could catch, but found nothing. Eventually, the ground in front of her was nothing but a huge gap and left her with no choice but to go back. She turned around and froze when she thought she heard a faint, muffled sound. She walked closer to the hole, trying to see what was down there. Darkness was all she could see, though, a pitch black abyss. She gulped, knowing that what she was going to do was extremely dangerous.

"Elfman?" she called out loud. "Are you there, Elfman?"

A minute passed and no answer came. Lucy started to feel stupid when three or four full minutes passed and she still hadn't heard a thing. This time, she turned around intending to get out of this oversized coffin.

"Luc?"

She froze.

"Is that you?"

She gasped, not bothering to hold back the tears of relief that ran down her cheeks. She ran to the edge of the hole.

"Elfman!?" she yelled. "You're really here! Hang on, I'm going to get help! We're gonna get you out of here!"

She heard him laugh and sob in relief from the bottom of the pit. She ran outside at full speed, her own tears freezing when she jumped above the broken door and yelled at her friends, waving her hands hysterically.

"He's here! I found him! Call the commander, Elfman's here!"

Less than ten minutes later, the commander and a rescue team ran toward them. A few more minutes and they were joined by Jellal's team, firemen, policemen and medical teams. They managed to get Elfman out of the collapsed building and the big recruit grinned at them when he saw them, crying tears of joy. Lucy cried too, but the other boys fought the tears and only grinned until their jaws hurt. The commander called Mira before even calling the general: they found Elfman, he's fine, except for a broken ankle and a dislocated wrist. He'll spend a few hours in the hospital, but he'll be released in the morning.

Elfman told the commander that he spotted a suspicious person the night before and tried to talk to them. But they ran away and Elfman chased after them and even carelessly entered that building. Elfman lost track of the suspicious person and the ground collapsed under his feet. The commander immediately went to warn the general and, when the phone call was over, he told Jellal that they were to go back to the academy for the night. While they were preparing to leave, he recruits from both teams went to congratulate Lucy, pat her on the head or shoulder, tell her she was a hero. Several firemen and policemen went to congratulate her as well, and she felt intimidated by all the attention. She wasn't a hero, she didn't even know why she had entered the building in the first place, and she cried like a baby when she found Elfman...

Lucy asked if they could stay with Elfman at the hospital, but they weren't allowed to since Mira was already going with Lisanna. She helped her friends put the bags in the car trunk and the commander ruffled her hair before she could sit inside.

"You were awesome tonight," he smiled softly.

They drove back to the academy, where they were congratulated by the general and a few other officers before they were allowed to go to sleep. It was already past 5:30 a.m... When they entered the dorms, Lucy automatically sleepwalked toward her old room. The commander's large hand gently cradled the back of her neck to guide her in the right direction and she didn't try to resist the pull at all. He opened the door and Lucy barely registered the fact that he had been holding her bag all along when he dropped it beside her bed. She felt the commander's arm around her waist as he guided her to her bed and the young woman closed her eyes before she sank into oblivion.

* * *

 _Manhunt – Day 3_

* * *

Lucy woke up the following morning a bit before noon. She cracked an eye open and flinched when the bright daylight almost blinded her. The sky was white and woolly, meaning it'd would most probably snow again today. A soft smile graced her lips when she remembered that the first snowflakes of the winter had fallen on the day they found Elfman. How fitting. Then, something else that happened the day before came to her mind and she sat bolt upright, staring at the bed beside hers. It was empty. Lucy frowned, not knowing if she felt disappointed or relieved. She sighed and got up, realizing only now that she had slept in her combat uniform. She still took her boots off before getting into her bed, though, or was it the commander?

She took a shower and made sure to properly fasten her bandage around her chest, which was of a normal size, despite what Loke insinuated. She brushed her teeth and laced her boots, before exiting the room and locking the door behind her. Unsurprisingly, she didn't meet anyone in the corridors, so she walked straight to the refectory. She had missed breakfast, so she'd have to eat lunch instead, but at least she'd get to eat. Someone who had been standing in front of the doors blenched when he saw her and ran inside. She frowned and hesitated. What the hell was his problem? She sighed, shook her head and opened the doors of the refectory. Only to be met with a deafening silence. Everyone in the room was standing up and staring at her.

"Um..." Lucy hesitated. "What's wrong?"

Simultaneously, they all pointed to her left and she turned to find Mira running toward her. Lucy smiled when the colonel pounced on her and hugged her tightly, thanking her over and over again, leaving tear stains on her shirt. Everyone applauded and cheered loudly for her, calling her a hero, congratulating her, thanking her. She got thanked a lot.

* * *

Erza pulled her into a crushing embrace as soon as she entered the office. Lucy gladly returned it, too happy to forget about their argument.

"I'm so proud of you," the doctor sobbed, and Lucy laughed.

"I didn't do anything, though. Only screamed and cried like a baby when I found him."

Erza kissed her on the forehead and smiled affectionately.

"I heard," she said. "I'm still very proud of you."

They walked together toward the general's office. The headmaster wanted to personally congratulate and thank her for Elfman's rescue. Erza knocked on the door and someone opened it from the inside for them. Jellal was holding the door, he winked at Erza and nodded at Lucy with a small smile. The small general jumped to his feet when he saw them and pulled the young recruit into a tight hug that stunned her.

"Excellent job," Makarov smiled warmly. "You did very well, my child. Thank you so much for what you did last night. I read the reports, I know how dangerous it was to enter this building."

Lucy nodded, feeling a bit too moved to talk. She was sure she'd cry if she tried. The young woman learnt that her reckless exploration of that building also allowed them to find a crucial clue about the Butcher.

"We found pictures near the spot where Elfman was lying," Jellal explained. "All of them were pictures of beautiful young women with blond hair."

"The Butcher chose a type," Makarov explained. "Which restricts the number of potential victims and enables us to set a trap."

Lucy was allowed to leave the office a moment later and she instinctively went to find Loke. It felt weird not having him around her all the time. She knocked on the door of Gray's room and her friend opened it quickly, welcoming her inside with a wide smile. Loke stuck to her like a leech all evening long. They talked about Elfman, about the Bucher they still had to catch, played cards, watched a show on Gray's pad and Lucy decided it was time for her to go back to her own room when she started yawning.

She hesitated in front of the door, not knowing if she was supposed to knock before entering. It was her room too, now, so it should be fine. But what if he was doing _that_ again? Lucy decided that it was safer to knock and did so. The commander arched a brow when he opened the door to find her standing there like a lost kid.

"Why did you knock?" he asked, moving to the side to let her in. "It's your room as well, you can come in whenever you want."

"Ok," she timidly answered.

Awkwardly, she went to sit on her bed. The commander watched her from his spot, leaning on the door, a side smirk on his lips.

"You look like you're about to meet the president of the Octagon," he mocked. She didn't relax one bit, so he went to sit on his own bed and read one of the files that were spread there. "Do you have plans for the weekend?"

She thought about it for a moment, still not feeling at ease.

"No."

The commander nodded, not looking at her.

"Good," he said. "Cause you're coming home with me."

Lucy stared at him with a dumb look on her face, waiting for an explanation. She understood that he wouldn't give her any if she didn't ask, seeing as he was still reading his stupid file.

"Excuse me?"

He glanced at her, closed the file, dropped it on his bed and sat in front of her.

"You heard about what they found in the building where we found Elfman, right?" he said. "This bastard's targeting blond women now. We can't let you go back home all alone."

Lucy frowned and shook her head, not liking where this conversation was going.

"No, I refuse," she retorted. "And besides, the Butcher's after women, so I'll be fine."

The commander snorted and Lucy frowned even more.

"What?"

Natsu shook his head and smiled.

"Nothing. Anyway, you don't have a choice: general's orders."

"I didn't hear a thing about this," she countered.

"You will if I really have to ask him to order you to bear with me," he assured.

The young woman shook her head in disbelief and rolled her eyes.

"But why!?" she whined. "The Butcher's after women, I'm not in danger!"

The commander groaned and massaged his sore neck.

"Oh, come on," he said, "drop it, ok? It was amusing at first, but the situation has changed."

Lucy's stomach contracted and a knot formed in her throat. She tried to swallow it, but to no avail. The commander didn't look angry, but he didn't look like he was joking either.

"Wh... what do you mean?"

He arched a brow and smirked and her heart hammered in her chest.

"You know what I mean," he said. "Why do you think I didn't undress you when we came back, last night?"

Lucy tried her very best not to look guilty, but she could feel her face burn and she knew she was blushing and sweating. Gray was right, it was a miracle that she was still alive.

"I... I really don't unders..."

"Ah, no," the commander interrupted her. "Don't deny it, I hate it when people take me for an idiot."

He stared at her, waiting for her to confess her secret, but she just couldn't.

"Well," he sighed, "fine."

He stood up and pointed at her shirt.

"Take it off," he ordered.

 _"How bold_ ," her inner voice sniggered. What a stupid thing to think at the moment!

Lucy shook her head.

"No... this is ridiculous. I'm leaving."

She stood up and he pushed her back on the bed, not too gently might she add.

"If you don't, I'll take it off myself," he warned. "You're calling me a liar, back it up."

When she still didn't answer, he shrugged and bent down.

"Well, that's fine."

He grabbed her shirt and tugged at it before Lucy vainly tried pushing him off. She fought a few more seconds, but obviously wasn't strong enough to resist him.

"Fine, fine!" she exclaimed. "You win! Let go! Pervert!"

The commander let go of her shirt and took a step back, a victorious smile on his lips.

"When did you find out?" she mumbled.

The young man's smile slightly faltered when he sat back on his bed.

"I've had some doubts since the very beginning," he said, "but I only got a confirmation recently."

Lucy frowned.

"A confirmation?"

He nodded.

"Yep. During training, a while ago, you got splashed with blood and went to change in the lockers. You were still inside when I came back and Loke had to piss, so I took his place and opened the door to see how you were doing. Turned out you were using the shower to wash the blood off."

Lucy was sure she had never been more embarrassed in her whole life. Not only had he seen her shirtless, she had been bending over in a weird position to get all the blood off... And he had seen that... She hid her head between her hands, wishing she could just dig a hole right there and bury herself alive. She'd hibernate inside until everyone she knew was dead.

"I can't believe you saw this," she muttered. "I feel violated..."

She glared at the commander when he burst out laughing.

"You feel violated?" he repeated. "Wanna talk about the time where I heard the door of my room being unlocked from inside a few days ago? Strangely enough, the door of my wardrobe had been opened too, and I had just enough time to catch a glimpse of a blond head as the person closed the door behind them."

Lucy then learnt that you could always feel more ashamed than you expected. You'd think being seen half naked while struggling with your sticky, bloody hair would make you feel so ashamed that nothing else could compare. But try getting caught peeping on a man relieving himself and you'll see that it can always get worse.

"I... have no idea what..."

The commander took something out of his pocket before she could finish her sentence and handed it to her. It was a thin silver wristband. Believe it or not, but Lucy only realized at that moment that she had lost it in the first place.

"I think that's yours," the commander smirked. "It was in the wardrobe, for some reason."

Lately, Lucy had been preparing for the day she'd tell the truth to the commander. She wanted it to be a solemn, emotional moment, where she would tell him the whole truth properly and cry in his arms afterwards. She snatched the wristband and glared at it.

"It's not what you think," she assured, "it was an accident."

The commander burst out laughing.

* * *

 **End of chapter 20**

Don't forget to vote for the popularity contest: the poll's on my profile page!

The previous chapter got really enthusiastic reactions and it made me want to quickly write this one! Since I had some free time, I managed to finish it today! Please, do tell me what you've thought of it!

Author Note: There are now over 400 of you following this story and a lot of readers left reviews to tell me that I'm a great writer, that they're in love with the story and can't wait for each chapter to come out. You give me your sincere support, you encourage me and cheer me up. I just had to thank you one more time for being so kind and supportive, I feel blessed. I have to admit that it's a bit intimidating, but it's very thrilling as well! I always look forward to reading your comment!

 _Reminder_ : I only post the previews and the news about the stories on my Tumblr blog: hungrypeanut.

 **Question/Answers**

Q (from TheOGFTfanatic): I didn't know Juvia could fight, was it part of her training course for nurses?

A: Thanks for asking! I thought no one would! No, fighting isn't part of their training (at least, not in my story), they're just making sure to stay healthy!

Q (from TheOGFTfanatic): does that mean Lucy isn't as umm "well endowed" in the story than she is in the manga?

A: Thanks for asking this too. Obviously, Lucy's chest can't be as large in the story as it is in the manga. She's average in this area.

Alright, this it for now. I'll try posting the next chapter as soon as possible!


	21. Chapter 21: Inferno

**PART I – Resolution**

Chapter XXI – Inferno

* * *

" _And then there was you. You changed everything I believed in. You know that line from Dante that I quoted to you in the park? 'L'amor che move il sole e l'altre stelle'?"_

 _Her lips curled a little at the sides as she looked up at him. "I still don't speak Italian."_

 _"It's a bit of the very last verse from Paradiso - Dante's Paradise. 'My will and my desire were turned by love, the love that moves the sun and the other stars.' Dante was trying to explain faith, I think, as an overpowering love, and maybe it's blasphemous, but that's how I think of the way I love you. You came into my life and suddenly I had one truth to hold on to - that I loved you, and you loved me."_  
 _― Cassandra Clare, City of Fallen Angels_

* * *

 _Manhunt – Day 4_

* * *

Lucy groaned in pain when the bag was roughly removed, allowing her to see the place she had been brought to.

"Welcome to your new castle," the man snorted.

It was a small, dark space with brick walls that stunk of humidity and had several brown or black spots of decay here and there. Metallic racks had been arranged against the walls, which only reduced the size of the already small basement. Lucy frowned when she realized that a lot of jars of all sizes had been placed in the racks. She squinted her eyes at them to try and distinguish what was inside, almost throwing up when she succeeded. In the jar closest to her, she saw a foot and two hands floating in a weird yellow-green liquid. Swallowing a whine, she averted her eyes and noticed the dark lump in the corner of the basement. Sheer terror filled her whole being when she recognized the commander. The man caught her gaze and turned around to snort at the beaten young man.

"Oh yeah," he chuckled, "he tried to save you when he understood what was happening. I killed him."

* * *

 _Manhunt – Day 3_

* * *

When the commander was done teasing Lucy and calling her a pervert, he finally decided to bring up the real subject of interest. They talked almost all night long and the young woman literally spilled her guts to him. She told him about Jude being accused of being a traitor, about the attack of the mansion, Michelle, the ranch, the attack of the ranch and the life she lived with her adoptive mother afterwards.

"I had to run away when I heard that a weird woman was looking for me," she explained. "I knew it was Kyoka, she had been tracking me for a while and I didn't want to risk my adoptive mother's life. She wasn't pleased with my decision, but I still left."

Natsu sat beside her on the bed, listened to her and asked all the right questions. When Lucy had answered most of them, he smiled and nodded.

"I thought so," he admitted.

Lucy frowned and listened attentively when Natsu told her that the general was actually the nice old man that owned the ranch back then and he and the officers he trusted the most already knew about her and her father. They easily guessed that she was here trying to save him and decided they'd cover her. To say that the young woman was shocked would be the understatement of the year, really. She couldn't imagine that her secret had been discovered right from the start. Lucy didn't expect any answer, but she had so many questions. She started by asking him who they were exactly, and the commander did answer her. He told her that they were part of an organisation opposing the Octagon.

"Erza and Mira didn't know, though. Gramps only told them recently and made them promise they'd keep quiet about it. Gray's telling Loke and Gajeel as we speak. You really can't remember Gramps' face?" he asked. "You remembered Gray's, right?"

Lucy nodded.

"Only Gray's," she explained. "I'm starting to remember Gramps as well now that you told me, but I still can't remember the face of the boy with the shotgun at all."

Her heart hammered in her chest when he leaned forward and grabbed her hands, his eyes locking on hers.

"Really? You really don't remember the other boy?"

Of course she did. She remembered the strange color of his hair, the scar on his neck, his appeasing smell and his bright smile. She remembered him so vividly it actually hurt. She was just too scared to say it out loud. What if he told her that she was wrong? She had come to love that boy so strongly when she was a child, of course she'd still have a lot of affection for him. Sure, it wouldn't really hurt her or anyone even if she was wrong, but she didn't want to be wrong. His hand reached up slowly and gently caressed the spot on her head where a pale scar testified of the accident that caused her memory loss, all those years ago.

"After everything I just told you," he breathed, "you want me to believe that you still can't remember?"

His voice was weaker than usual and Lucy could swear he sounded like he wanted to cry, even if no one could tell just by looking at his face.

"I still have nightmares about that night," he went on, "I see Michelle dropping the grenade, I hear your scream before the explosion and I wake up to find you missing."

Lucy didn't even notice the stray tear that ran down her cheek until the commander chuckled and wiped it with his thumb. She put her hand on his wrist and squeezed it, leaning her cheek in the palm of his hand.

"Why didn't you tell me all that sooner?" she sobbed.

The commander gritted his teeth when he heard the pain in her voice, his heart sinking. He moved closer and wrapped his hands around her shoulders so she could lean her head on his shoulder. Her hands grasped his shirt, but she refused to cry for good and kept fighting her tears.

"The others didn't know if we could trust you," he explained. "You disappeared for several years, we had no way to be sure that you weren't working for them. You saw what happened with Lyon, right?"

Lucy nodded and sniffed, another tear running down her cheek. She understood where they were coming from, but she wished they had managed to trust her earlier because it sure had been hard for her to be alone. Even when she started to make friends, she was always scared of what would happen to them if she was to be unmasked by the Octagon. She had been so afraid of putting them all in danger. But it turned out that they were already fighting.

The commander wiped another tear and shifted again to look at her in the eye, lowering his voice.

"Gray told you that we kept looking for you after that, right? He also told you that we were still trying to get your father out of there and about how his friend tried to get into the Pandemonium to free Jude, didn't he?"

Lucy opened wide eyes as her mind played memories of her conversation with Gray. The boy with the shotgun went to the Pandemonium. Her stomach contracted painfully as she grabbed the commander's hands with a bit too much strength.

"It was you!" she realized. "You went there to get him out! What happened? Gray said that you failed and came back with severe injuries..."

Natsu's jaw contracted and his eyes darkened just a bit as he sighed.

"Gray needs to think more before he speaks," he grumbled. "But it's the truth. I'm sorry I couldn't bring him back at that time."

The young woman energetically shook her head, looking like a slave who'd just found the key to open the door of her cage.

"You have absolutely nothing to apologize for," she countered. "Thank you so much for going there. Now, you can just tell me where exactly it is and I'll..."

"Lucy," he interrupted her. "They caught me trying to open your father's cell when I went there. Don't worry, I was wearing a mask, but believe me it's too dangerous to break into the Pandemonium after what I've done there."

Despite her very strong feeling of inner restlessness and agitation, the young woman understood that she'd have to find another way to free her father. It would be fine, though. She would have the help of the general and the members of his organisation! Wait a minute... the commander had been caught? She frowned at him and he averted his eyes when he guessed what her next question would be.

"How did you escape? You even managed to keep your identity a secret and come to the Academy, that's impressive."

A moment of silence followed her question and the commander looked so tense Lucy was surprised his veins weren't popping under the pressure.

"I was shot four times," he finally said, eyes stuck to the floor. "I should have died there, but someone dragged me out and I woke up in a bed in a room I had never seen before. Long story short: the one that got me out took me to Erza and disappeared. She managed to save my life thanks to an old surgeon she knew, but some of my organs were irrevocably damaged. I'm not joking when I say it's too dangerous to go there alone."

As he spoke, images of her peeping session in the wardrobe came back to her: images of his powerful chest and contracted abs. She hadn't paid any attention to the small scars on his skin back then. Her eyes involuntarily fell to the hem of his shirt and she swore she could see the pale dots through the fabric. She hadn't noticed them back then, but they were all she could think about now.

"Don't look at me like that," he chuckled, "I'm fine. Anyway, we're preparing something big now. We're trying to change things, but it's gonna be dangerous. I think Gramps will want to explain things to you properly. I assume you're tired of fighting alone, no?"

Euphemism of the year.

The commander told her that they'd meet with some of the Rose's tear's leaders during the weekend and invited her to come.

"The Rose's tear? Isn't that a terrorist organization?"

Natsu grimaced at that.

"That's only what the brass want the people to think," he answered. "We're obviously not terrorists, but we raid some suspicious places owned by the Octagon and generally anonymously get in their way, so..."

Lucy nodded. Now that she had most of the pieces, everything was starting to make sense. Natsu and the others would be labelled as traitors for opposing the Octagon and associating with a terrorist organization. They were putting their lives on the line. She'd gladly join them for this fight, though, and not only because it was her best chance of saving her father.

"I'll come," she assured.

The commander nodded, his face serious again.

"Good. Another thing. If you try to disappear on me again," he warned her, "I'll track you down and drag you back by the skin of your neck."

She gulped and nodded, feeling grateful and worn out at the same time. Things would have been so much easier for her if she had told him the truth from the very beginning. Then again, she trusted him as much as he trusted her then.

* * *

 _Manhunt – Day 4_

* * *

With their classes ending in just a few hours, all the recruits were starting to run low on patience. Lucy was no exception, but the young woman wasn't excited at the thought of the loud parties she would attend or anything like that. She would spend the weekend at the commander's place and accompany him to the meeting with the leaders of the Rose's tear. Earlier that day, she had been taken to the general's office, where she had a long and completely honest talk with the old man. Makarov backed everything the commander had said up. He hugged her and cried, promising he'd never let her go through so much pain again. Jellal, Laxus, Gildarts, Bob and Juvia turned out to be part of the Rose's tear as well, which partly explained why the latter had been allowed to fight in the Tournament.

"Erza and Mirajane only joined us a few weeks ago," the general explained, "when they understood that we were on your side. Jude and Silver were also part of our group. Your father discovered that some of the big shots of the brass were actually spies conspiring against the army and the country. He said it was too dangerous to send a message with their names, so he asked us to come to the estate. But when we got there..."

Lucy swallowed the lump that had formed in her throat and nodded. They had been too late, but it couldn't have been helped.

"We're going to get him out," the commander solemnly declared. Makarov cleared his throat and nodded.

"Exactly," he agreed. "We're almost ready to strike them, but we first need to talk with our allies to plan the attack of the Pandemonium."

They were going to meet them on Saturday night and Lucy would officially be introduced as the Rose's tear newest member. Just one more day to go. The young woman sighed as she stared out the window, frowning in worry when she saw Mira push Laxus out of her way and stomp away. The poor man had probably been trying to cheer her up, which only made her feel even angrier at herself. The night before, her team had found the butcher and chased after him, but the criminal had managed to escape. Mira felt furious and humiliated that the man who hurt her brother had managed to run from her. Laxus promised her he'd manage to catch him thanks to her team's job, but it didn't seem to make her feel any better.

"I just have a very bad feeling about this," she told Lucy. "I should have caught him. Something bad will happen because I failed..."

Lucy told her not to worry, she said that she wasn't alone and they'd eventually find and arrest that murderer, but the truth was that she had a feeling similar to Mira's. Something bad would happen now that the butcher knew they were drawing closer.

When lunch time came, Lucy was so distracted she would have kept walking forward if Loke hadn't been here to pull on her elbow and point to the door of the refectory. He laughed at her and she lightly punched his ribs. He coughed, but didn't stop laughing. She was starving, but Loke didn't take much to eat and even gave her his chocolate bar. It was pretty rare for him to give his dessert away, so she ate it before he came back to his senses. The commander was late, but he did come to eat with them. He pushed Gray away from Lucy and sat next to her, ignoring the loud protests and threats from the former.

"Hello, dumbasses," he greeted. "You aren't going to eat this, right? Then, I'm taking it."

He tried to take Lucy's chocolate bar, which actually originally belonged to Loke, but she didn't let him.

"Hands off," she growled, "that's mine."

"Liar," he countered, "you never have chocolate with you."

She shrugged and smirked when the chocolate bar was out of his reach.

"Today, I do."

"Loke gave it to her," Gray explained.

Natsu turned surprised eyes to the young man in question. He was making fun of Gajeel for some reason, looking like he was having a lot of fun. The commander tried his best to keep a neutral face, but Lucy caught the flash of worry in his eyes. She was about to interrogate him about this when the door burst open and in came the lieutenant. He quickly made his way to their group and slammed something on the table, right in front of the commander. Lucy frowned when she saw the newspaper.

"Change of plan. We need to see Gramps," Laxus declared. "The bastard's evolving."

Everyone had obviously gone quiet and Lucy sent a worried glance at the commander as the latter read the titles on the first page:

 **Hurricane season**

 **Son of an army officer died in a car accident**

 **Situation out of hand in Joya: 3 more soldiers killed in the last 24 hours**

 **Castle under attack from pigeons**

 **Ghost apparition in Bosco**

What immediately caught her attention was the main headline, though:

 **Horrific murder perpetrated by John the Butcher: the victim was raped, killed and dismembered in front of a witness.**

The commander cursed and dropped the newspaper, letting the others read it as he stood up to follow Laxus. Lucy couldn't believe what she was reading: this psychopath had tortured and killed his victim in front of a young girl whom he had allowed to leave afterwards. None of the recruits were allowed to go to the meeting with the officers and they had to go to all of their classes of the afternoon. Lucy kept checking her watch every minute, only to groan in annoyance at how slowly time passed when you needed it to fly. They shouldn't be wasting any time sitting around and waiting like incompetent morons when they could just go and talk to the witness. Lucy gritted her teeth. The newspaper said that the witness was thirteen years old and that had been forced to watch everything. Why in the world did he let her go?

When their classes finally ended, Lucy and her friends rushed to the commander's room and barged in. Well, it was Lucy's room as well, so she had every right to be here. Natsu was putting some clothes in a suitcase when they came in, but he didn't even look at them.

"You guys are so noisy that I heard you enter the dorm," he sighed.

Loke jumped on Lucy's bed and so did Gray and Gajeel. Lucy stood right beside the commander.

"Tell us what happened," she commanded.

The officer shook his head and released a half sigh, half laugh.

"Since when do you go ordering your commander around?"

"Fess up, man," Gray backed her up. "Something must have happened with the old bastards of the Octagon after what happened last night."

"Mira's team was out," Loke frowned in worry. "Did they put the blame on her?"

Natsu sighed once more and kept putting things in the suitcase.

"Knowing her, she already feels guilty for this," Gajeel mumbled.

"You guys..." the commander sighed.

"That's right," Lucy agreed. "This makes it all the more important to catch the butcher as quickly as we can. Let's go talk with that girl."

"Guys..."

"Right," Gray added, "and I'll go check the area where we found the body. Gajeel, you go talk with Mira, maybe she could give us some useful informa..."

"Guys," Natsu called louder. "It's useless."

The recruits stared at him with confused looks and he couldn't look at them in the eye, so he went back to closing his suitcase.

"The cops are taking care of things for now," he explained. "Laxus will patrol tonight with his team for the last time."

"The cops aren't taking care of any..."

"What do you mean 'for the last time'?"

Gajeel didn't get mad at Lucy for interrupting him since he realized that her question was more important than his useless remark. The commander contracted his jaw and kept silent for a moment. He ended up sitting on his bed and sighed before meeting their eyes.

"The Octagon thinks the Butcher's become too dangerous for us to handle alone," he declared. "They also think that we're responsible for this turn of events. Laxus will be allowed to patrol tonight, but we're not allowed to send another team to help him find the Butcher since it would be, and I quote them: 'a waste of military resources'. To put it simply, if we can't catch the Butcher tonight I'll be sent to Joya and the head of the Academy will change to be replaced by a member of the Octagon."

A deeply stunned silence ensued and none of them needed to ask if this was some kind of sick joke. They weren't even allowed to go all out for this last night of hunting. This decision was beyond ridiculous!

"They're kicking you out of their way and aren't even trying to be subtle about it," Gajeel groaned.

The commander nodded.

"I know. You should pack your things too, Lucy, we're leaving soon."

The young woman frowned at him. How could he even think about going back home to enjoy the weekend with what was happening? She gritted her teeth and sat on the suitcase, arms crossed over her chest.

"What the hell are you..."

"You're not going to Joya," she declared. "I refuse."

The commander arched a brow, but couldn't help the amused smile that eventually appeared on his face.

"That's good," he chuckled. "I'll just say this to the Octagon, then: I'm not leaving because one of my recruits, who's also a girl and a fugitive, doesn't want me to."

"They're obviously being unfair," she argued, "they only want you to die there. They're preparing something and we can't let them have their way!"

"Well said, blondie," Gajeel approved.

The commander stretched his back as he stood back up and smirked at the recruits.

"Of course they are," he said, "I'm dangerous and they know that. Gramps knows it's impossible to catch the Butcher in time, but he won't let me go to Joya. Which is why we have to leave quickly and get ready for tomorrow's meeting. We have to warn them that shit is going down."

While Lucy had to swallow the lump that had formed in her throat thinking of the merciless fights that were to come, Loke arched an amused brow at Gajeel.

"Why are you smiling, you creep?" he asked.

"I'll finally get to break a few bones," the punk grinned.

* * *

"That's all?" Natsu asked as he dropped Lucy's bag in the trunk of his car.

She nodded and yawned.

"Yes, that's all."

The commander arched a brow and made fun of her when he saw how tired she looked.

"Nights are for sleeping, you know."

 _"Yeah, but the naughty girl spends her nights fantasizing about your naked body,"_ her inner voice scoffed. " _Makes it kinda hard to sleep when you're lying half naked right beside her_..."

"You snore," Lucy countered.

"I don't."

"You do," she lied.

The commander sat behind the wheel and Lucy opened the door to sit beside him when she heard a familiar voice call her name. She turned around and stepped away from the car when she recognized Erza. The doctor seemed to hesitate, staring at her expectantly. Lucy understood that her friend was worried about their argument from the other day, she wasn't sure if they were reconciled with each other or not. The young woman smiled at the redhead and the latter smiled back, walking forward to pull her friend in a tight hug.

"I still have work, so I can't go home now," the doctor explained, "but I'll definitely come to see you tomorrow."

Lucy chuckled and nodded.

"You don't have to," she tried to reassure her friend, "I'll be fine with the commander."

Erza glanced at the man in question over Lucy's shoulder and grabbed her friend's hand to lead her farther away from him. She frowned and lowered her voice to make sure Lucy would be the only one to hear her, ignoring Natsu's suspicious look.

"I'm not only worried about the butcher," the redhead whispered. "I know that Natsu will do whatever it takes to protect you, but no one's going to protect him."

Lucy frowned even more at this.

"Protect him from who? The Octagon? They gave us until tomorrow to find the butcher, they won't come for him toni..."

"Lucy," Erza interrupted, "you heard about this car accident that killed the son of an officer, right? This young man was supposed to integrate the Octagon in place of one of their eldest members."

The recruit understood immediately what the redhead was warning her about, but it wasn't like it was a secret for any of them that the members of the Octagon were willing to use any possible way to get what they want. The attack of the estate was still fresh in her memories.

"You want me to tell you that I'll protect him if they show up?"

The doctor sighed and shook her head in defeat.

"I'm sure you'd try even if I didn't ask you," she said. "That's not what I'm asking you. Natsu can protect himself from the others, but..."

Erza hesitated and glanced at the commander one more time, he was starting to look a bit worried. Lucy had made some pretty dumb decisions in the past, so it might be hard to believe, but she was no idiot. She had quickly put the pieces of the commander's past together and was pretty sure that the thing he often injected himself with was some kind of derivative of adrenaline that forced his body to function at full capacity despite the wounds he got when he went to the Pandemonium. Such a thing would eventually kill him someday, she knew. Did Erza want her to stop him from getting these injections? She gulped.

"I'll do my best," she said.

Erza smiled sadly and hugged her friend a second time.

"I hope you'll do better than me," she laughed humorlessly before raising her voice to talk to Natsu. "I'll come by tomorrow. You better behave like a gentleman in the meantime."

"Obviously," the commander mumbled.

The doctor waved at them with a bright smile and walked away. Lucy sat in the passenger seat and fastened her seatbelt while the commander sent wary glances her way.

"Come on," he pushed, "I know she said something about me. What did she say?"

"She didn't say anything about you," the blonde retorted.

"Bullshit, you both kept lancing at me while talking."

"We were looking at the car," Lucy countered. "Erza was telling me to be careful because you're a dangerous driver. I'm hungry, can we make a quick stop to eat somewhere?"

The commander started the engine and drove out of the Academy, smirking.

"Only if you tell me what you really were talking about."

Despite what he said, the commander still drove to a shopping mall where they found a snack bar that sold inexpensive hamburgers and french fries. He paid for her meal and she even managed to drag him to the mall's music store after they were done eating. She stayed there for one whole hour while the commander waited outside and the sellers had to ask her to leave so they could close the store. Before she exited the store, her eyes were drawn to something shining weakly at her feet. Someone had dropped a silver lighter. The young woman picked it up and put it in her pocket, she'd give it at someone at the reception or something.

"I couldn't choose only one, so I didn't take any," she explained when she joined the commander.

"You made me wait all this time for nothing?"

"Yup."

They were walking toward the exit, Lucy ignoring Natsu's complaints, when the young woman saw the wooden sign indicating the entrance to the toilets.

"I won't be long," she promised.

The commander sighed as he watched her go. He should be home already, watching TV and eating crisps. While he was daydreaming about his couch and food, someone bumped into his shoulder and fell. He helped the man up, waving his apologies off with a distracted: ''sure, no problem.''. He yawned when twenty minutes passed and Lucy still wasn't back. What was she expecting? They were in a pretty large shopping mall, of course she'd have to wait for ages to go to the toilets. As the young man was on the verge of falling asleep while standing, something suddenly detonated outside. This efficiently woke the commander up. He ran to the glass doors leading to the underground parking lot and ran outside. It took him a second to locate the source of the noise and he frowned when he did. A garbage dumpster had fallen on a car. Natsu looked up and saw that the upper level was reachable via a circular ramp. The dumpster had probably slipped between two pillars and fallen down. Fortunately, no one had been hurt and the firefighters quickly got here, so Natsu went back inside to wait for Lucy as soon as they arrived.

Lucy heard the detonation, but didn't manage to locate it as the commander did. She gave up on the toilets and backtracked. She didn't find the commander and a lot of people were running around in confusion and worry. The young woman decided that she should try to go out and remembered that the underground parking lot was pretty close by. A small hand grabbed hers as she started to walk and she turned surprised eyes to the small girl that was holding her back.

"Sorry," the little girl said. "Your friend with the weird pink hair asked me to wait for you here. He said he's waiting for you in his car in the alley behind the mall, near the delivery zone."

Lucy's eyes widened in surprise. It wasn't really like the commander to leave her like that and have a little girl wait for her.

"Oh," Lucy smiled sweetly at the girl. "Thank you, miss. Are you alone? Where are your parents?"

The little girl smiled back, though, it looked forced to Lucy.

"They're with your friend," she answered. "They wanted to make sure that he wasn't trying to kidnap me."

"I see," the young woman chuckled. "Well, let's go find them, then."

The little girl never let go of Lucy's hand and even gripped it a bit tighter when they reached the other side of the mall. The delivery zone was a few feet on the right side of the exit door, delimited by high wooden palisades.

"Your friend's in his car," the little girl explained, "behind the zone."

The sky was completely dark and the weather seemed even colder than usual. Lucy shivered and frowned when she realized that they were completely alone on this side of the mall. The sound of a purring engine reached her ears and she followed the little girl toward the palisades that were hiding the delivery zone. Lucy almost sighed in relief when she saw that the car was indeed Natsu's and the girl's parents were here. The woman gasped when she saw them approach and the man opened one of the car doors to help another little girl out of the vehicle. They both hugged her and Lucy thought the woman seemed to be crying. The girl that was holding her hand let go of it and ran to her family, hugging the other little girl and crying loudly. Lucy frowned, confused.

"How touching," a deep voice sang from behind her.

The young woman spun around and instinctively sent a roundhouse kick that should have broken a few ribs if it hadn't been blocked. The man laughed when he saw her glare at him, but didn't let go of her leg.

"Now, that's one freaking feisty reaction!" he exclaimed before punching her in the face. "I love it! Alright, guys, thanks for your help. You can leave now."

The girls' parents didn't need to be told twice. They picked the children up and ran away, crying apologies to Lucy. The young woman was standing back up, hand going to the back of her belt.

"They're abandoning you without even a second of hesitation," the man laughed. "How mean, and they say I'm the monster. Maybe I should have killed them too."

He grabbed Lucy's hair and forced her up, blocking her hand when she tried to stab him.

"What can I say?" he chuckled. "I'm too nice. See? You attacked me twice and I still haven't killed you, that's how nice I am."

Lucy noticed only then the gun he had in his left hand and gritted her teeth when he told her to get in the car.

"How did you get the key?"

The man chuckled and pushed her toward the car, his gun pointed at her head.

"He gave it to me," he snorted. "Now, hurry up. I'm a busy man."

Hand on the handle of the car door, Lucy hesitated and looked back at him.

"You're the serial killer we've been chasing, right?" she asked. "John the Butcher."

"My real name's Dominik," he smirked. "Pleasure meeting you. Now, get in the car if you don't want me to..."

Dominik never finished his sentence. He froze for a second and smirked once more. He forced Lucy to sit in the car and handcuffed her to the inner handle.

"We've got company," he laughed. "I'm going to go say hello."

The butcher opened the trunk of Natsu's car and took out a spider wrench. Lucy frowned and watched in confusion as Dominik went to hide behind a palisade, wrench at the ready.

"Look at that," the butcher snickered, "the spider's gonna catch the fly."

Less than ten seconds later, Lucy watched in horror as the commander came running into view. The butcher swung the wrench with all his strength and the device hit the young man right in the head. The shock opened a large gash on his eyebrow and would without a doubt leave a nasty bruise for weeks. He lost consciousness on the spot and the butcher continued to swing his new weapon while whistling and laughing sadistically.

"Damn, I was sure that hit would have beheaded him! He's one sturdy bastard!"

It took everything Lucy had not to scream and thrash around to get rid of the handcuffs. The young woman stared at the injured man with wide, teary eyes. He had blood all over his face and the butcher was dragging his body by the feet toward the back of the car. Dominik dropped him in the trunk of the car and slammed it shut. When he came to sit next to Lucy, the young woman grabbed her headrest to support her weight and kicked him in the head. He fell out of the vehicle and groaned in pain. Lucy heard insults and whining as she opened the door and desperately tried to break the inner handle.

"You shouldn't have done that," Dominik growled in her ear.

She turned around and was hit in the head with a hard object that instantly knocked her out.

* * *

Lucy groaned in pain when the bag was roughly removed, allowing her to see the place she had been brought to.

"Welcome to your new castle," the man snorted.

It was a small, dark space with brick walls that stunk of humidity and had several brown or black spots of decay here and there. Metallic racks had been arranged against the walls, which only reduced the size of the already small basement. Lucy frowned when she realized that a lot of jars of all sizes had been placed in the racks. She squinted her eyes at them to try and distinguish what was inside, almost throwing up when she succeeded. In the jar closest to her, she saw a foot and two hands floating in a weird yellow-green liquid. Swallowing a whine, she averted her eyes and noticed the dark lump in the corner of the basement. Sheer terror filled her whole being when she recognized the commander. The man caught her gaze and turned around to snort at the beaten young man.

"Oh yeah," he chuckled, "he tried to save you when he understood what was happening. I killed him."

Lucy ignored him and focused on the commander instead. He was lying on an outstretched tarpaulin, facing the wall. He wasn't dead, she could see his chest rise and fall with each breath, but he still needed to be treated. She mentally cursed when she noticed that one of her hands had been handcuffed to one of the racks. Dominik cocked his head to the side and arched a brow at her.

"What? No crying or begging? Come on, I didn't bring you here to be bored out of my mind. Do something. You guys have been hunting me for days and you finally found me, you should be happy. Oh, and I know you're not a guy. I felt you up while you were sleeping."

Lucy ignored him and closed her eyes. She didn't want to beg for him to let Natsu see a doctor, it would most probably have the opposite effect. But she'd put her injured friend in danger if she angered the butcher. What to do? Think, Lucy, think!

 _"You already know what to do_ ," her inner voice declared.

She slowly opened her eyes and stared at the unconscious man in the corner of the basement. She knew what to do. The butcher followed her gaze and smirked in victory.

"You know I didn't really kill him," he said, walking toward the commander, "but he's in a pretty bad condition right now. It wouldn't take much to finish him." He turned around and playfully swung the spider wrench around. "You'll have to be very nice to me if you want me to spare him."

Lucy gulped and raised her chin. She nodded and the butcher's smirk widened.

"Sweet."

The butcher dragged his heavy body toward her and dropped the wrench a few feet away from her. She saw he still had at least three knives at his belt, but he unfastened it as well and let it fall to the floor.

"If you try anything funny," the butcher warned as he unbuttoned his pants, "or try to resist even a little, I'll cut all of his fingers one at a time. Then, I'll do the same with his toes, ears and so on."

Lucy nodded. She didn't intend to let him reach the commander ever again.

"Good girl," he purred. "Much weaker than I expected, but I'm horny, so you'll have to do."

He leaned forward and Lucy gritted her teeth and closed her eyes when she felt his tongue on the skin of her neck. It felt disgusting, it was just like having a giant snail sliding on her skin. She clenched her hands into tight fists when he forced the giant snail into her mouth and she had to use all of her self control not to bite it off. When the butcher felt confident enough to drop his guard and start exploring the rest of her body, her free hand reached out to grab one of the largest jars. This one contained what she thought were a liver, a stomach and other things she didn't want to recognize. It was so heavy she almost accidently dropped it right away. The young woman did manage to smash the jar on the butcher's head, though. He stumbled backwards like a drunk person and whined in pain and confusion. Lucy didn't waste any second, she grabbed him by the collar of his dirty shirt and pushed him down.

"You should have handcuffed my right hand," she growled.

She punched his nose hard enough to break it and kept punching him to knock him out. She gave a little whimper of pain when one of her punches hurt her hand and the man took this opportunity to push her off and stumbled toward his belt. He spat blood and lost his balance a few times before grabbing one of the large knives.

"Bitch," he growled, blood still pouring down from his nose and lips. "I'm gonna kill you for this. Slowly, piece after piece."

Lucy got ready to fight him off, but the man froze and smirked widely. He took a step back and laughed.

"You aren't scared of me one bit, huh? Well, you're gonna be scared shitless in a second."

Lucy's eyes widened in horror when the butcher turned around to stumble toward the commander.

"I'm gonna start with his fingers, as promised..."

"Wait!" Lucy exclaimed. "Are you that scared of a tied up little girl? Get back here, bastard, I'm the one who punched you!"

"Hehe, starting to shit yourself, now?" the butcher knelt by the commander and took his left wrist. "Look closely. I want you to see everything and remember that it happened entirely because of you."

Dominik placed the blade of the knife against the commander's index finger, but stopped and smirked at her as he dropped his hand.

"I've got a better idea," he explained as he shifted around Natsu.

He pushed the commander so that the latter was lying on his back and unbuttoned his pants.

"I can't wait to see the face he'll make when he wakes to find his cock's gone," the butcher guffawed.

Lucy freaked out, things weren't going according to her plan at all. Then, she noticed the strong smell of chemicals. It took her about five seconds to identify the solution: formalin. There was formalin on the floor and on the butcher's clothes. Without thinking, the young woman took the lighter she had found earlier out of her pocket and lit it.

"Hey," she called.

Her voice was firm, but calm and it surprised Dominik enough to make him turn around and glance at her. He immediately saw the lighter in her hand and understood what she had in mind.

"You're gonna kill the three of us if you do this," he warned.

The young woman shrugged.

"Maybe," she conceded. "We'll have to see."

"Wait a minute," the serial killer countered, slowly standing back up. "We can talk about this, right?"

Lucy noticed the subtle steps he took to approach her as discreetly as possible. She mentally congratulated herself for this brilliant new idea. Now, the commander wouldn't be hurt by the fire. Dominik told her that he was ready to surrender and that she could put the lighter away.

"Don't be foolish," he said, "you're gonna burn too if you drop that. There's no need to go that far, I surrender."

It was only a diversion, Lucy knew. She was pretty sure the butcher was trying to get close enough to stab her with his knife, or at least throw it her way hoping to get her head or heart. She didn't care. She took a deep breath in, steeling her mind. Anybody can imagine that being burnt alive felt like you were walking through hell, but she'd spend the rest of her life walking through the nine circles of hell if it meant that the commander would live on.

A millisecond before she dropped the lighter, the door of the basement burst open and a dozen of men dressed in military uniforms entered, guns pointed at the butcher.

"Drop that, fucker," someone ordered from behind the group.

Taking a closer look at their uniforms, Lucy realized that they weren't real military uniforms. The men guarding the door moved to the side to make way for a woman. She was tall, her body had harmonious curves and her long dark hair was pulled up in a loose ponytail. She was wearing black combat boots, cargo trousers and a skin tight black tank top that disappeared under a long black coat. Beside her stood Gray, hands in the pockets and looking completely relaxed despite the situation. He smiled at her when he saw her.

"You can put that thing away now," he said.

Lucy did.

"How did you find us?"

Gray snorted.

"That idiot had taken a girl hostage to trap you," he explained. "Before leaving, she called the cops and left the phone in the car so that they could locate you. We intercepted the signal and hurried here to get to you before the cops could. Anyway, why's that idiot unconscious?"

She heard her friend make fun of the unconscious commander, but didn't really pay him any attention anymore. She was focused on the woman that was undoubtedly the leader of the group. Gray kneeled beside her and easily opened the cuffs.

"Are you deaf?" the woman sounded irritated. "I hate to repeat myself, so drop your toothpick already."

Dominik glared at her, visibly not used to being talked to in such a way. He glanced at the men around him and gritted his teeth. Less than a second later, the cornered criminal pounced at the woman. Before any of her men could react, she parried the knife, knocked him on the chin with a striking uppercut and broke his left knee with a furious kick.

"So yeah," Gray casually said, "this is my sister, Ultear. She's our boss."

"Nice to meet you," Ultear nodded at the blonde recruit. "We called Makarov on our way here, he should be here with a team soon enough."

Lucy gaped at her and Ultear pointed out that she looked like an adorable, but stupid fish.

"Well, let's go," the leader of the Rose's tear ordered. "We don't want to meet the cops today and I'm starving. Lucy, tell the incompetent moron that I said hi when he wakes up. See you guys tomorrow."

With that, she left as quickly as she had come. Makarov arrived a bit before the cops, which meant that the Academy was officially responsible for the capture of John the Butcher. Erza slapped the commander awake and hugged him when she saw the wound on his eyebrow. Natsu refused to go to the hospital, so the redhead drove him and Lucy to the commander's home. She helped him get settled in his room, but he protested.

"The room's for Lucy," he yawned. "I'm taking the couch."

The blonde woman had no difficulty forcing him to lie on his bed and threatened to call Loke over to help her nurse him if he resisted. Erza didn't leave before giving Lucy specific instructions to take care of the commander's injury and a bag of medical supplies.

"Don't hesitate to call me if anything happens," she said for the hundredth time.

"I will," Lucy promised. "Thanks."

The redhead hesitated on the doorstep and sent a curious look to the blonde.

"I know this might be a bit much to ask," she started, "but I think it would be best if you slept with him tonight."

Lucy froze, but didn't interrupt Erza when she went on.

"The injury in itself isn't that serious, it's the location that's a problem. Head injuries are dangerous for many reasons and I definitely think he should have stayed at the hospital for the night."

When Erza finally left, Lucy locked the door behind her and walked to the bathroom. She brushed her teeth and put her pajama on before walking back to the living room. His place was pretty comfy from what she had seen so far, but she wouldn't get to explore more of it until the next day. Because she'd be spending the night with the commander.

Natsu's bedroom was even simpler than she had expected: a large bed, a wardrobe and a chest of drawers.

 _"Well, well, well,"_ her inner voice sang, " _seems like you'll have to share the bed, huh_?"

Lucy gulped. It wasn't like she would do anything inappropriate to him, she was just nursing him... She hesitatingly lifted the covers and slipped into the bed for the night.

* * *

 **End of chapter 21**

Hello everybody! I'm sorry for being so late, I really did my best to write this as quickly as I could! Hopefully, the upcoming chapter will be posted much sooner!

I received a lot of messages from readers telling me that they love the story and that they'll keep supporting me and I wanted to thank all of you for your kind words! You guys are seriously adorable, your reviews always make my day and bring a smile to my lips when I'm down!

Popularity Contest Result:

1st: Natsu

2nd: Lucy

3rd: Loke

4th: Gray

Questions/Answers

Q (fromMsMJ): I don't really get how Lucy expected to lay low and still make it to the elite squad, though. Isn't it obvious you need to impress to reach that kind of level?

A: It could have worked for her if she had only impressed her instructors. Of course, things couldn't have been that easy, haha!

Q (fromshrinemaiden05): Will there be a reveal that she is the girl that he was dancing with at the party?

A: Something like that. Maybe.

Q (from4evrDorkly17): why was Natsu staring at Luc's collarbone at the time when he pulled her aside during the party? Was it jut his tipsy mind being slightly dazed or was it something more… personal?

A: Both actually. He was tipsy, but he had a more personal reason as well. I think I have a collar bone fetish.

Q (from Rachel Maddison): do you have an updating schedule that I missed or you just haven't posted one or set one up?

A: Sorry, I don't have a schedule because I know perfectly well that I wouldn't be able to respect it!

Q (from JinxedPanda4Life): Is the Butcher and Kyuoka the same person?

A: You got your answer earlier!

That's it for today! Once again, I'm really sorry for the much too long wait! I'll do my best so this doesn't happen again!

Much love to you all!


	22. Chapter 22: The Ice Queen

**PART I – Resolution**

Chapter XXII – The Ice Queen

* * *

 _"You think my first instinct is to protect you. Because you're small, or a girl, or a Stiff. But you're wrong."_

 _He leans his face close to mine and wraps his fingers around my chin. His hand smells like metal. When was the last time he held a gun, or a knife? My skin tingles at the point of contact, like he's transmitting electricity through his skin._

 _"My first instinct is to push you until you break, just to see how hard I have to press." he says, his fingers squeezing at the word break. My body tenses at the edge in his voice, so I am coiled as tight as a spring, and I forget to breathe._

 _His dark eyes lifting to mine, he adds, "But I resist it."_

 _"Why..." I swallow hard. "Why is that your first instinct?"_

 _"Fear doesn't shut you down; it wakes you up. I've seen it. It's fascinating." He releases me but doesn't pull away, his hand grazing my jaw, my neck. "Sometimes I just want to see it again. Want to see you awake."_  
 _― Veronica Roth, Divergent_

* * *

Advice: since it's been a while since the last update, you should read the previous chapter to be sure to understand everything (not that this one will be especially hard to follow).

* * *

 _Night of Lucy's first day at the Academy._

 _Makarov's office was much louder than usual considering the late hour, but it was no usual day either. The general was sitting at his desk when his grandson, Laxus, and his most trusted officer, Gildarts, all but kicked his door open and barged in._

 _"It's really her," Laxus groaned. "Did she become stupid during the time she was missing? Luc Heartfilia? She's lucky that the Academy's mostly under our control..."_

 _"The girl has guts," Gildarts agreed. "Reminds me of her mother."_

 _Makarov smiled fondly at this. He obviously remembered Layla very clearly as well. A knock on the door interrupted their conversation and Makarov nodded at Laxus, who went to open the door with a hand on the handle of his gun. A pink haired very agitated commander practically jumped inside._

 _"Gramps, it's really her," Natsu pointed a finger at the door as if the girl herself was there. "What do we do, now? Why the hell did she come here? Is she a complete idiot or what?"_

 _The old man raised both hands in a reassuring gesture and called for the men's attention._

 _"Gentlemen, please calm down," he demanded. "Lucy's obviously here to try and find a way to get Jude out of the Pandemonium." He paused for a second to let them understand the obvious truth. "She's trying to get into the Elite Squad to be sent as a guard there."_

 _The old man saw Natsu clench his fists and shake his head. He looked terrified._

 _"We can't let her do that," he stated. "I'll do anything to stop her."_

 _Makarov himself still vividly remembered the night Erza called him after Natsu broke into the Pandemonium. He managed to open Jude's cell and was about to run away with him when he was shot. He miraculously managed to run away from his assailants, but collapsed before he was out of the secret building. Someone then dragged him out of there and left him in Erza's hands. When Makarov saw him, he had blood all over his body and terrible wounds._

 _"I agree," Gildarts said, "now that we've found her, we have to protect her."_

 _"It would be more accurate to say that she was the one who found us," Laxus sniggered._

 _"You're all right," Makarov stated. "This girl is precious in many ways. We can't let her go to the Pandemonium, but we can't kick her out either."_

 _"We have to tell Ultear," Laxus said. "Her return changes everything for us."_

 _Makarov nodded slowly. It indeed did._

 _"Wait," Natsu protested. "She just came back from God knows where, we can't just tell her to join our fight all of a sudden."_

 _"Obviously," Gildarts agreed. "We don't know if she's still on our side."_

 _The commander frowned and turned confused eyes at the older man._

 _"What? That's not what I..."_

 _"I know it's not what you meant," Gildarts interrupted him. "We can't let ourselves get too emotional just yet."_

 _The young man contracted his jaw and glared at Gildarts._

 _"We're not talking about anybody here," he growled. "This is Lucy. Our Lucy. I've... we've been searching everywhere for her for so many years I lost the count."_

 _"Which is exactly why we have to be careful," Laxus countered._

 _"Don't misunderstand us," Gildarts tried to appease the visibly furious commander, "we're all very happy to see that she's doing well, but..."_

 _"Happy that she's doing well?" Natsu interrupted him. "You're happy? I still can't sleep at night, you know? When I'm awake, I think about the night I lost her, when I sleep, I have nightmares about that night. You're happy that she's doing well? That's awesome, really. As for me, I'm literally freaking out because she's currently quietly sleeping in her bedroom as if nothing happened. She didn't even recognize any of us!"_

 _"Nats..."_

 _"Don't tell me to calm down," the commander roared. "Who the hell would be calm in this situation!? We have to talk to her! We have to hear directly from her what happened after that night!"_

 _A short moment of silence ensued before the general spoke again._

 _"We will," he assured. "But you said it yourself, she went through a lot. Let's give her some time to adjust to this new environment and see how much she's changed while she was away from us. In the meantime, you'll have to keep an eye on her. When we all feel ready, we'll have a talk with her. Is that okay with you, Natsu?"_

 _Reluctantly, the commander nodded._

 _"Good," Makarov smiled. "Jude's daughter finally came back to us, we have to approach the situation wisely. After all, she's the daughter of one of the Resistance leaders."_

* * *

oOo

* * *

 _"Tell him I forgive him..."_

Lucy cracked an eye open and groaned in annoyance, trying to fall back asleep. She couldn't remember the dream she had, but she still felt merry from it and was pretty sure that she'd rather watch the continuation of it than wake up. She snuggled up in bed and buried her nose in the warm bolster, sighing in satisfaction when she was engulfed back in the comfortable warmth of the blankets. She vaguely noticed that the bolster was a bit hard, but she felt too comfortable to be bothered by such an insignificant detail. She froze when she felt the bolster tense and gulp underneath her body.

Slowly, the young woman got out of her daze and raised her head. Her tired eyes fell on the tanned skin of broad shoulders and worked their way up the strong neck to reach the contracted jaw. She frowned when the commander offered her a small, embarrassed smile. She was lying on him, right? And he was shirtless for some reason... She rubbed her eyes and yawned, her memories from the night before slowly coming back to her. It had been so long since she had last shared a bed with someone that she had forgotten that she tended to cuddle the others when she did.

Trying not to show how much she relished the feel of his naked skin underneath her hands, Lucy slowly pushed herself off him. When she moved, she realized that she had wrapped her leg around Natsu's and blushed madly when she felt something hard brush against the skin of her thigh. The commander averted his eyes as she got off his body and coughed awkwardly as he stood up.

"I'm going to the bathroom," he said. "Make yourself at home."

She nodded and thanked him with a small smile she hoped looked as natural as possible. She relaxed when the door of the bathroom closed behind him and stretched her back, realizing only then that the commander wasn't the only one who had lost an item of clothing. She still had her tank top, but her pajama bottoms were nowhere to be seen. She had slept in her panties, lying on a half naked commander. If possible, she blushed even more. She rubbed the bridge of her nose and shook her head, trying to fight her laughter. No wonder the commander ran to the bathroom as soon as he was free.

Sighing, the young woman jumped to her feet and walked around the small bedroom, searching for the missing pajama bottoms. She looked around the bed, behind the door, around the wardrobe and the chest of drawers: nothing. She frowned in confusion. The small room had a window, but she wouldn't have thrown them out... would she? Just to be sure, she also opened the window to look outside and sighed in relief when she was sure that she hadn't thrown her pajama bottoms out. Lucy realized that she hadn't looked under the bed yet and immediately got on all fours and bent down to do just that. The door of the bathroom opened at this very moment and they both froze when the commander entered the room. A minute of utterly embarrassed silence passed by before the commander cleared his throat and walked out of the room, heading for the living room.

"I'll make breakfast," he told her, his voice hoarse.

"Ok..."

The pajama bottoms really were under the bed.

After a quick shower, Lucy joined Natsu in the living room. He was sitting on the couch, eating cereals while watching the news on the TV. Not really understanding why, her eyes were attracted to the tight black shirt he was wearing. She felt like she had seen it before, but couldn't remember when or where. The commander always wore old clothes during training, she would have remembered him doing pushups in that shirt... He glanced at her over his shoulder when he heard her and greeted her with a quick nod before focusing back on the TV.

"Good morning. Your plate's on the counter, the juice's in the fridge."

A nice kitchen open to the living room occupied the back of the apartment and was separated from the rest of it by a high marble counter. He had overcooked scrambled eggs that would easily feed four people and prepared at least six toasts for her. She smiled softly and grabbed her plate and a glass of orange juice before coming to sit beside him on the couch.

"How's your head?" she asked, munching on a toast.

He clenched his fist around his spoon and glared at the TV.

"It's just a scratch," he assured. "What about you? Erza called me when you were in the shower. She said you had a hard time while I was unconscious..."

His eyes fell to her bandaged hand and she hid it behind her plate, shrugging. Erza insisted that she needed to have it treated properly, but Lucy assured her that she trusted her. It didn't even hurt that much anymore. She took the time to take a sip of her orange juice so her voice wouldn't betray her real feeling when she answered.

"Not really," she said, trying very hard not to remember too vividly the rough hands and the disgusting tongue of her assailant. "Don't worry about it, nothing serious happened."

Before going to sleep the night before, she had spent almost twenty minutes brushing her teeth and washing her mouth. The humiliation of knowing that she had had to let him do that to her was much more painful than her bruises. The commander's distant gaze as he looked out the window didn't go unnoticed, but she decided to keep silent and let the subject of conversation change naturally.

"Nothing serious..." the commander breathed.

Lucy frowned and turned her eyes to him, worried about the tone of his voice. Before she could say anything, someone knocked at the door. The young man hesitated and, for a very brief instant, looked at her with an expression she didn't understand. He stood up and walked to the door. Lucy stared at his back with confused eyes.

"What took you so long?" Erza growled when he opened the door.

"It took me less than thirty seconds to get the door," he retorted.

"I know," she said. "I counted."

"Of course..."

From her spot on the couch, Lucy heard another familiar voice.

"Move it, dumbass."

She couldn't see him since he was standing behind Erza, but she recognized Gray's voice and smiled at him when Natsu finally let them in.

"Yo, Lucy," he waved at her and smirked. "You look good. Slept well?"

Erza glared at him. Apparently, the doctor had told him that Lucy would have to share the commander's bed. Lucy played innocent.

"Yes, thank you."

Gray's smirk widened when he turned to his cousin.

"What about you? Had a refreshing night?"

Ignoring her friend's insinuation, the doctor turned to the commander and ordered him to sit still while she looked at his wound.

"How are you feeling?" she asked as she wrapped a clean bandage around his head.

"I'm completely fine," he assured, "you don't need to put that on my head. I look like a mummy..."

"Yes, yes," the doctor brushed him off. "How about you, Lucy? How's your hand?"

The young woman shrugged and focused back on the TV, knowing that she wouldn't be able to lie to Erza if she looked at her in the eye.

"Good," she sang. "It doesn't hurt anymore."

The redhead hummed and nodded in satisfaction, walking away from the pouting commander.

"That's good," she said. "I'll still have a quick look. How about the cut on your lip? It was inside, ri... what?"

Lucy had abruptly turned around to send an alarmed look to her friend, eyes wide open. Erza froze and arched a brow. The commander frowned as he got up, walking toward the couch.

"Her lip?" he asked.

Thanks to the many years she had spent lying to practically everyone, Lucy managed to keep a neutral face when she faced him. She shrugged and took another sip of her juice.

"I bit my lip," she lied.

Apparently, Natsu believed her. He sat down next to her on the couch and massaged the back of his neck. Erza thankfully understood the reason of Lucy's lie and kept quiet, rummaging through her bag to get a clean bandage for her hand. Gray slumped into the commander's armchair and laid his chin on his fist.

"Really?" he asked. "I thought it got cut when Dominik kissed you."

Lucy froze, her glass of juice a millimeter away from her mouth.

 _"Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!"_ her inner voice burst out laughing. " _That idiot actually said it! I can't believe it, that's too funny, even for me!"_

A moment of absolute silence followed her dumb friend's question and she almost managed to convince herself that her mind had imagined his words.

"The Butcher kissed you?"

The commander's voice was slow and deep, you could literally hear him struggling to keep his composure. Lucy didn't even need to look at him to know that his whole body was tense, she could somehow feel his muscles contract. She gulped, not bothering to glare at Gray since Erza was already doing it. Since Lucy wasn't saying anything, Natsu took a deep breath in and sighed.

"Guys," he called out, addressing Erza and Gray, "can you leave us alone for a moment?"

Lucy caught Erza's worried glance and prayed from the bottom of her heart that the doctor would reject the commander's demand.

"I'd rather not," she hesitated.

"Yeah," Gray agreed, "what's with the heavy atmosphere? You can talk to her in front of us."

The young woman was mentally thanking God for giving her such amazing friends when the commander suddenly got up and turned around. He didn't look angry, but he certainly didn't look relaxed either. He walked to the door and opened it in a very clear invitation for them to get out.

"Don't be stupid," he groaned. "You know very well I won't do anything to her, so get out and let me talk with her in private."

Reluctantly, the doctor and the recruit dragged their feet to the door. Before stepping out of the apartment, Erza warned them that she'd stay right behind the door and would barge in if she heard anything worrisome.

Lucy observed them and used the time she had left to think about what she'd say. She hadn't expected the commander to kick her friends out to talk to her. Why did even do that? Was he going to yell at her? Would it make him even angrier if she explained him that she was only trying to save his life? Why was he even angry!? Everything had turned out alright in the end! When the commander came back to sit on the sofa, Lucy missed the calm look in his eyes and immediately began to ramble.

"I'm sorry that I didn't tell you," she said hurriedly, "it's not like I was trying to hide it from you, it's just that..."

"Lucy..."

"… I didn't know if it was something to talk about. I mean, it's not like..."

"Lucy."

"… it's that serious. Sure, it was disgusting, but it could have been worse! Wait, that's not what I..."

The commander's large hand shot up to cover her mouth and he sighed in weariness. Then, the young woman finally noticed the softness in his eyes. He wasn't angry at her in the slightest. When he was sure she wouldn't talk anymore, he slowly removed his hand, his thumb delicately brushing her bottom lip.

"I was so worried about what would happen to you if you were away from me that I got too confident when you agreed to go back home with me," he confessed. "And you were kidnapped and beaten up under my watch."

His hand slid down to her jaw and his thumb drew small circles on her chin, sending delicious chills down her body. She was so distracted by his ministrations that she couldn't focus enough to formulate a coherent sentence and tell him that he shouldn't blame himself for what happened.

"Did you know that I became your instructor in Bob's place?" he went on. "I kept an eye on you almost all the time, I moved you to my room and I even dragged you to my place. And it still isn't enough. How far will I have to go to make sure that you're safe?"

That last question was obviously rhetorical, but she answered it anyway.

"There's nothing to do," she said. "I'll soon be exposed to dangers be much greater than Dominik. You can't do anything to make sure I'll be safe. The only thing you can do to help me is to stay alive and try not to get hurt. Because I don't think I'd have any strength left to keep fighting if I were to lose you..."

The commander's eyes found hers and she gulped when she saw how moved he looked. He was the only man she knew who could look so innocent and fierce at the same time. The image of a young boy with wild pink hair, smiling at her as they ran into the forest flashed in her mind. She didn't understand how she could have lived all these years without remembering him.

"Well," he gulped, "there's no way I'm losing you ever again either."

He leaned forward and his hand slid to the side to engulf her jaw and the back of her neck. His forehead touched hers and his nose brushed against her own when someone energetically knocked on the door.

"Guys, hurry it!" Gray shouted. "We're gonna be late!"

The commander's jaw contracted and he sighed in annoyance.

"Ignore him," he groaned.

The knocks that followed were much louder and Lucy smiled when she heard the doctor's voice.

"You better not ignore us," she warned. "I'll kick the door down if I have to!"

Lucy saw in the young man's eyes that he was weighing the pros and cons, but he eventually straightened up and kissed her forehead before going to open the door. As she distractedly looked at her friends entering the place, Lucy's mind escaped from this time and place to fly back to the past. Physically, she was sitting on Natsu's couch. Mentally, she was back in the club where she danced with the commander. Her body still remembered the feel of his hands on her skin, her heart still hammered when she thought of how close he had been to kissing her. She blushed and smiled when she realized that he already knew it was her back then.

"Come on," Gray's voice suddenly forcefully dragged her back to reality, "Ultear called me. She said she'll skin us if we're late and you know she's serious."

"I'd like to see that," Erza countered.

Gray rolled his eyes and sighed.

"Alright, Erza will survive," he corrected, "and probably Lucy. But the both of us are definitely going to die."

Gray's dramatic prayers didn't fall on deaf ears. Erza drove them to the suburbs and even reached the rural area within twenty minutes, where they found a large forsaken hangar. Erza parked the car among the trees to hide it from the road and the small group climbed down.

As they approached the gloomy building, Lucy swallowed and started sending cautious glances all around her. She felt like the main character in a horror movie walking straight to the monster's nest, carrying bacon slices in her hands. Or, better yet, like that badass archaeologist in the video games: Lara Croft. Erza noticed how tensed her younger friend was and started explaining a few things to help her relax.

"The general and his closest officers won't be here," she said, "because the Octagon's keeping a close eye on them. We'll have to attend the meeting in their stead, ask as many questions as we can and register as many information as possible."

"We're going to work as their secretaries, but we won't get paid," Gray summarized.

From up close, you could see several motorbikes hidden behind large corrugated metal sheets and rusty iron beams. Lucy started hearing faint voices from inside, but Erza's voice soon covered them again.

"From what I've heard," she went on, ignoring Gray's sassy remark, "Ultear's got a lead on who's Kyoka's spy. She's planning to use him to counter attack and possibly conduct a raid on the Pandemonium. We're also going to discuss Ivan's case, seems like he's not behaving himself even after having been sent to the front. Several sentries reported an unusual stirring near the..."

Lucy wasn't proud to admit it, but the truth was that she was a selfish human being. Ivan's case, the sentries' worrisome reports, none of that mattered to her. The leader of the revolutionary movement was planning to go to war against the Octagon to free her father. Finally, after all these years, Lucy was going to give busting her father out of jail a freaking real shot. She suddenly wasn't nervous or intimidated anymore, she could barely contain her excitement.

"But that's some pretty important move," the commander pondered out loud, "it would mean that someone is in charge of the whole thing."

"And not just anybody," Gray added, "someone who's used to command large units."

Lucy tried not to look completely lost, but she was starting to regret spacing out on her friends while they were having a visibly important conversation.

"Do you know who's our guy, Erza?" Natsu asked.

The doctor averted her eyes and gulped, nervously shaking her head.

"Um... not really," she breathed. "Alright, we're here."

Lucy and her male friends exchanged knowing glances: she so knew. The question was why was she pretending not to know? The redhead pushed open a rusty door that squeaked under the pressure and entered the dark space. Gray entered right after her and the commander followed him. He paused on the threshold and turned to her, holding the door open for her.

"Come on," he called, nodding encouragingly.

She smiled nervously and entered with him. Inside, Erza and Gray were talking with a man dressed in black. Lucy immediately noticed the shotgun in his hands and glanced at the commander. Erza turned to them and told them they'd be frisked before they'd be allowed to meet Ultear and the others.

"It's standard procedure," the doctor assured when Lucy frowned. "Don't worry, we'll be frisked by women."

The guard eyed Lucy appreciatively and winked at her.

"But I'll gladly do it if you're in a hurry," he smirked.

"Keep it in your pants," someone scolded him.

Everybody turned around to look at the newcomer and Lucy opened wide eyes when she recognized the young woman who was smirking at them. Bisca nodded at her and eyed her up and down.

"Nice to see you again," she smiled, "Lucy."

Lucy smiled back and shook her head.

"I guess I shouldn't be surprised to see you here," she chuckled.

Bisca was done with Lucy in less than a minute and turned to Erza.

"You'll have many more things to be surprised about," she agreed. "Your turn, sweet heart."

Erza didn't react to the nickname and glanced at the boys, who were being checked by the – disappointed – guard. Everybody was soon ready to go and Bisca led them toward another smaller door. She half opened it and grimaced when the rancid scent of the smallest room hit her. She turned to her guests and smirked when she noticed they were either trying to cover their noses or act like they weren't bothered by the smell.

"Sorry," she laughed, "it stinks. Bear with it."

Erza, Gray and Lucy followed Bisca in the smallest room that could use some air freshener. When the blonde recruit didn't feel the commander's presence behind her, she turned around to see him talking in the guard's ear, a hand on his shoulder. The guard's eyes met hers for a brief second before he averted them and nodded at something the commander said. Satisfied, Natsu turned to the door and smiled at Lucy when he noticed she was still here.

"Still scared?" he teased her.

"I'm not scared," she retorted.

The new room was barely lighted by fluorescent tubes that created a strange atmosphere. A large metal table sat in the center of the room, most seats were already taken. Lucy automatically went to sit by Erza, the analysis of the others could wait until she was near her friends. Someone sat on the seat on her left and she wondered if it would make her look like a capricious diva if she asked him to move a bit so the commander could sit next to her. The intruder was a brown haired man sporting a huge smile that made him look like a child. He extended a hand and she politely took it.

"Hi there," he beamed. "I'm Dan. You?"

"Lucy..."

Dan's smile widened even more and he leaned forward a bit so he could look at her straight in the eye, which made her feel very uncomfortable.

"Well, Lucy," he went on, "you're the most beautiful woman I've ever met. You actually remind me of my fiancee! But she left the country without telling me for some reason... So yeah, would you date me?"

Lucy stared at him with wide eyes and wondered if she was supposed to laugh or slap his hand away. She didn't have to worry about it for much longer, though, for the commander suddenly appeared from behind them. He sighed wearily and grabbed Dan by the collar to push him to the side and take his seat next to Lucy.

"What are you doing!?" Dan protested. "You're interfering with our fate!"

"Yes, yes," the commander brushed him off.

He then winked at Lucy and she couldn't help smiling at him before averting her eyes when someone took the seat in front of her. Jellal nodded politely at her before greeting his neighbor with a distracted handshake. Lucy still had difficulties believing he was with them after everything Erza had told her about him. Lucy had never met him before the day he kidnapped Natsu for a weird training session, but she practically knew him like a brother. She knew his favourite color, his age, his full name, the story of his childhood with Erza and a bunch of younger kids. She knew that he enrolled in the army when he was 19 and got kidnapped by enemies. She knew that Erza became a mercenary at that time and broke into the enemy base to bust him out. She knew her friend was deeply in love with him. Still, now that she could see him in person, she felt like he was shrouded in mystery.

"Why are you staring so hard at him?" the commander asked, his voice low enough for her to be the only one to hear him.

Lucy averted her eyes and they pretty much automatically fell on the commander's arm. He was distractedly scratching the sensitive skin of his elbow pit, where she spotted a small red spot. The commander noticed it and stopped scratching, crossing his arms on the table to keep the small red spot out of view.

 _He still does it_ , she understood.

"I wasn't staring," she retorted, "I was spacing out."

When all participants were sitting around the table, someone at the end of the table clapped their hands and cleared their throat. Lucy quickly recognized the woman who conducted the raid on Dominik's place the day before. She looked magnificent today as well, sitting like a queen on her throne and facing the assembly with a serene look.

"Thank you for coming," she said, her voice deep and confident. "I know you took risks to be here today, especially since the Butcher's capture. I believe you've all been told about it and already know the details so let's get straight to the point. The Octagon is trying to take control over the Academy, which is under our control. My spy told me about a pretty worrisome file he found there."

"A file?" the man who spoke was tall, bulky and had a large black beard. "Did he find hints about the weak point in the defenses of the Pandemonium?"

Ultear shook her head and several men arched an eyebrow, frustrated. Lucy listened to everything carefully to fully understand everyone's reactions, expectations and projects.

"No," Ultear retorted. "I know he was supposed to focus on the prison, but he found something else in that file that deserved just as much attention. Natsu Dragneel's name, associated with Dominik's."

Lucy froze and opened wide eyes. She knew that the commander had been threatened by the Octagon to be sent to Joya if they couldn't find the Butcher, but why create an official file about it? She glanced at the commander, but the latter looked completely calm.

"Then what was in the file?" Erza asked, her voice a bit tensed.

The leader of the revolutionary movement shrugged and rummaged through the sheets of paper that were in front of her on the table.

"Mainly fake reports, fake testimonies and accusations," she answered. "They intended to accuse him of being Dominik's accomplice."

"Seriously..." Lucy heard Gray grumble near her.

Several people started talking animatedly after that and most of them just cursed and insulted the members of the Octagon. Lucy kept staring at the commander, looking for any sign of distress. He also noticed that and sighed.

"Don't worry about it," he smiled at her and ruffled her hair. "It happens all the time in the brass, I'm used to it."

Lucy was pretty sure this kind of thing was far from usual, though. In the midst of the din, Ultear clicked her tongue and it was enough for everybody to shut up. Lucy was impressed at how much authority she held on them all.

"No need to worry about it," she declared, "since Makarov handed them the Butcher and Dragneel's out of danger for now. My boy obviously destroyed the file as well and is currently investigating to find the culprit. Now, onto the next subject. Ivan met a troublesome man during his latest mission in Frego. They've both been seen near the northern border of our country, along with nearly three thousand men. The sentries sent reports to warn me about three more squads walking toward the border, each of them composed of approximately five hundred men. We don't know why they're there or what they're doing, but they have the support of the Octagon."

The leader of the revolutionaries kept quiet after that, giving them all enough time to assimilate this new information, and the very first question that was asked obviously was:

"Who's the other man?"

Ultear linked her fingers together and rested her chin on them before sending a pointed look Lucy didn't miss to the commander. She barely hesitated before answering.

"The vice-president of the Octagon, code name: Hades."

This time, every single muscle in Natsu's body contracted and he gulped loudly. Erza immediately turned in her seat to send him an alarmed look and he did his very best not to meet her eyes. Lucy frowned when she realized they both looked scared.

As a heavy silence fell upon the room, the large man with the black beard jumped to his feet and send a grave look to Ultear.

"Just say the word," he said, "and I take my best men with me and we go do the job. You know we can do it. We must try. If he's gathering an army, we're in danger for real."

Ultear held his eyes with just as much determination, her chin still on her intertwined fingers.

"You're not going," she retorted. "Not alone."

The leader of the revolutionaries sat up straight and let her eyes roam the small room.

"Warrod, Kagura, Jellal," she called. "Gather your squads and accompany him to Frego. Kill Hades and come back as soon as you can."

Just like Lucy, a lot of men opened wide eyes, but no one said anything to protest. They looked more worried about the level of difficulty of the mission than anything else. They were talking about killing a man just because he was doing something strange several hundred miles away... Wasn't that a bit extreme? Was he that much of a threat?

"What's the deal with this Hades guy?" she whispered to the commander. "Everyone looks like they're dealing with the devil himself..."

Natsu's jaw bone was easily visible when he gritted his teeth.

"That's pretty much the case," he mumbled. "He's the previous head of the Academy. He was fired for abusing several recruits... He's a dangerous man."

"Oh."

"When will you be ready to leave?" Ultear asked them.

Black beard yelled that he'd leave right away if she asked him, Warrod said he'd be ready when they needed him to be, Kagura said she needed three days to gather her team and prepare herself. Erza sent a cautious look toward Jellal when Ultear's attention turned to him.

"Same as Kagura," he said. "About three days should be enough."

Ultear nodded in satisfaction at this.

"Good. You'll leave next Friday. I'll give you as many weapons, money and material means as you need, but I can't lend you my men since this is an assassination mission and they aren't trained to be that discreet."

When everyone agreed on the terms of the mission, Ultear sighed and searched the pile of sheets of paper for one in particular. In the meantime, most people started conversations about Hades and Ivan. Frego was an allied country so what was Ivan doing over there? He was supposed to be part of a combat squad now. And what was he planning to do with his small army? Was he still working for Kyoka?

"Please, pay attention," she demanded. "We're almost done. When Warrod and the others come back, we'll attack the Pandemonium."

Now, this efficiently sent the whole room into chaos. Everyone jumped from their seats and started expressing their excitement or opposition to their leader's crazy decision as loudly as they could. Lucy's heart hammered in her chest as she waited for their leader to give them more details, but none of the idiots around her would shut up! Ultear slammed her hands on the table as she rose from her chair and a sudden silence fell upon the room as everyone quietly sat back down.

"Don't make me do this again," the woman growled. "We are going to attack the Pandemonium because we have a golden opportunity to do so."

Lucy caught several doubtful glances and inwardly growled at them. They were given a chance to fight for real, why were they acting like cowards!? Fortunately, the leader of the Rose's tear was much more used to diplomacy than Lucy was. She understood perfectly her men's fears.

"This organization was named after my mother and its aim is to honor her name by carrying on her fight," she went on. "Do you really think I would risk losing it if I weren't absolutely sure that the risk was worth it?"

A moment of silence passed, but this time the assembly didn't look doubtful anymore.

"One of our youngest members, Juvia, discovered something interesting," Ultear went on. "About one of the Academy's Tournament participants. You all remember the crazy chemist bitch Makarov warned us about? Well, he might be her spy."

Gray frowned and Lucy saw him clench his fists on the table. Lucy almost sighed when she realized that Erza and Natsu also already knew what was up and she didn't.

"This is why Juvia wants to fight in the Tournament," the leader explained. "She's got a plan."

* * *

 **End of chapter 22**

Well, hello all. It took me one hell of a freaking long time to update, but I swear I did my best to write this as quickly as possible. I just had too much work. As usual, don't hesitate to tell me what you've thought of the chapter. While I'm at it, I'd like to thank all of you who took the time to leave a review. I'll try to answer them all as soon as I can!

I know it took a very long time to update and some of you got worried I might stop writing. I said it before: don't worry, I definitely will finish the stories, no matter what!

Reminder: I only post the previews and the news about the stories on my Tumblr blog: hungrypeanut.

Question/Answers:

Q (from 4evrDorkly17): Also I just remembered something, shouldn't Lucy tell the Commander about Bacchus? He was threatening to reveal her wasn't he?

A: Well, she had a lot of things to worry about that were more important than Bacchus, but she will have to deal with it eventually!

Q (from sarara1.8): 2 questions: Could you .the ages of the main characters or maybe Natsu, Lucy and Erza? How many chapters do you plan to write?

A: I actually partly answered your first question in an earlier chapter: _I leave it up to your imagination but the first years are between 18 and 21, the second years are a bit older._ Let's say that Lucy's around 19-20, Natsu's around 22-23 and Erza's around 26. As for the second question: I'm not sure yet, I only know that the story will be divided in two parts which will be composed of several chapters. We're actually reaching the end of the first part very quickly!

Q (from ): What did Jude do for him to be a prisoner of Pandemonium? How much did Layla know for said organization to kill her? Why is the enemy after Lucy and why is she important to them? I knew that Luce's important to him (Natsu) and vice versa but how much did her "like" her to the extent that he's willing to infiltrate Pandemonium for her sake? WAAAH, there's too many question lingering here xD And senpai, why do I get the feeling that somehow, now that Lucy's under Natsu's watchful gaze and under the safety of his home for weekend, "sexual" tension's rising like a burning fever? XDDD HAHAHA.

A: Long question, long answer! First, about Jude: He found out about several members of the brass (one in particular) being implicated in illegal and criminal activities (which will be detailed in later chapters), he's also one of the leaders of the revolutionary movement. Layla knew everything her husband knew and was also a revolutionary leader (but I said she had a car accident, I didn't say it was a murder, haha!). The enemy's after Lucy because she's a witness of the attack on the mansion AND because she has something very important in her possession! How much did Natsu like Lucy? Do I seriously have to answer that question? XD And yes, you little perverts, steamy scenes are coming very soon!

Q (from SeventeenRoses): Have you posted this on ao3?

A: No because I suck at using Internet, haha!

That's it for today! Once again, I'm really sorry for the much too long wait! I'll do my best so this doesn't happen again!

Much love to you all!


	23. Chapter 23: In Pursuit of Tomorrow

**PART I – Resolution**

Chapter XXIII - In Pursuit of Tomorrow

* * *

 _"Memories warm you up from the inside. But they also tear you apart."  
― Haruki Murakami, Kafka on the Shore_

* * *

 _The little girl giggled and smiled widely, swinging her legs over the lake. The rock she was sitting on was cold and wet, but she didn't mind. She reached up to play with the blindfold over her eyes, but her friend scolded her and she stopped._

 _"Don't take it off yet," he said. "I'll tell you when you can remove it."_

 _"Alright," the little girl agreed._

 _Lucy heard her sister laugh and talk with Lyon about how cute they were, but had no idea who she was talking about. Gray was here too, he was swimming in the lake, but made sure to stay close enough to them. He too wanted to see what was up._

 _"You're slow, Natsu," Michelle scolded him. "You can't have a lady wait for that long you know."_

 _Lucy's smile widened when she understood that she had just been called a lady. The sun was high in the sky, but the weather wasn't really warm and a gust of wind made her shiver, which her older sister immediately noticed._

 _"Good job, she's getting cold, now! You want her to be sick tomorrow? And, Lucy, stop smiling like that! You have to be harder on your man."_

 _Lucy heard Natsu groan in embarrassment and she giggled once more, shaking her head._

 _"I don't know what that means," she laughed._

 _"I sure hope you don't," her sister muttered._

 _"Yeah," Gray agreed, floating in the lake, "don't become a pervert like your older sister."_

 _"What did you just..."_

 _"Hey," Lucy interrupted her sister to scold Gray, even if she couldn't give him her scary stern look through the blindfold, "don't call my sister a pervert."_

 _Lyon chuckled and Natsu groaned._

 _"You guys, this is serious..."_

 _"Do you know what a pervert is, Lucy?" Gray asked, ignoring his cousin._

 _The little girl shrugged._

 _"No, but I know it's not nice."_

 _Michelle smirked and kissed her little sister's forehead._

 _"Good girl," she purred._

 _"Alright, everybody be quiet!" Natsu ordered. "You're getting on my nerves."_

 _"He's nervous," Gray snickered. "Look at his face."_

 _"Why are you so red, Natsu?" Lyon asked, obviously very amused too._

 _"Shut up. Lucy, you can take the blindfold off."_

 _She didn't need to be told twice. Lucy threw the ugly thing away as soon as she got the permission to do so and smiled widely at the pink haired boy standing in front of her. He did look very nervous. He massaged the back of his neck and coughed awkwardly._

 _"I wanted us to be alone," he admitted, "but these idiots tagged along..."_

 _Lucy's eyes were attracted by the black box in the boy's hands and he noticed. He cleared his throat and held the box out before suddenly changing his mind._

 _"I'll open it," he explained._

 _Lucy's eyes widened considerably when the boy kneeled in front of her. He opened the little box and exposed a simple magnificent ring and a thin gold chain._

 _"Wow," Michelle gasped. "That's a wedding ring, isn't it?"_

 _"Yeah..." Lyon agreed._

 _"It belonged to my mother," Natsu explained, ignoring his bothersome friends. "It was a gift from my father, Gramps told me. It's some kind of tradition, apparently."_

 _"How romantic," Michelle laughed ironically._

 _"Don't interrupt him," Gray snorted, "he's already on the verge of fainting."_

 _"I'm not..." Natsu retorted. "It's just... harder than I thought."_

 _"How cute," Michelle smirked._

 _"Right?" Gray agreed._

 _"Come on," Lyon chuckled. "Let him go on."_

 _"Yeah," Natsu said, "my knee's starting to hurt! So, Lucy. Do you accept it? If you do, you can't marry anyone else, alright?"_

 _Lucy's eyes widened even more, she didn't know it was possible to blush that much. The other boys laughed while Michelle groaned in annoyance._

 _"This boy is hopeless..."_

 _"I accept," Lucy abruptly said._

 _The gang went silent and stared at her with dumbfounded eyes, including Natsu. Her sister was the first to get over the shock._

 _"Come again?"_

 _The little girl extended her hand and took the necklace with much caution before looking timidly at Natsu._

 _"Help me?"_

 _The boy blinked, but eventually took the thin chain to put it around Lucy's neck._

 _"Done," he said when the necklace was secured._

 _The children exchanged sweet smiles and Lucy ended up being the one to pull Natsu into a tight hug._

 _"I'm moved," Lyon said with a bright smile._

 _"Yeah, so moving," Gray yawned from the lake._

 _"I'll kill you if you hurt my sister," Michelle warned._

 _The day ended peacefully as the children all decided to go swim with Gray. Lucy couldn't help fingering the ring all day long and barely noticed when Lyon told them he was going back first. A few hours later, the ranch was attacked by the Octagon's intervention group called the Phantom Brigade, also known as the Spider._

* * *

oOo

* * *

Ultear refused to say anything more about Juvia's new mission, but the meeting wasn't over yet. They spent hours and hours talking about reports, strategies, squads, spies, potential and real threats, alliances and so on. Lucy almost found it funny that while she came mostly to hear about the rescue mission, she now was just as preoccupied with that Hades guy case. Neither the commander nor the doctor agreed to talk about it, but Lucy noticed that Gray looked uncomfortable. He knew something, she'd just have to wait for the right time to ask him about it. Unfortunately, the wait till that time came could be a bit long since the young man was going to spend the rest of the week-end at Ultear's place. He actually stayed behind when Lucy and her friends walked back to the car.

"We're taking important steps toward our goal," Erza commented. "Everything will unfold very quickly now."

The commander rolled his eyes and groaned in annoyance.

"What the hell are you babbling about?" he growled. "You should be with mister taciturn now, who knows... he may be away for a long time."

Erza averted her eyes and gulped nervously.

"You mean he may never come back," she corrected.

Lucy froze and the commander sighed and shook his head.

"No way," he retorted, "you know that's not what I..."

"I know," Erza interrupted. "Don't worry, he'll come to my place tonight. We'll have a talk about it and about... other things." Lucy frowned. Erza usually wasn't the type to smile at everyone for no reason, but she looked particularly tense now that the meeting was over. She was going to press the issue, but the redhead didn't let her. "Now that I think about it, Lucy, do you want to spend the night at my place? Seems like Natsu's doing good now."

The young woman widened her eyes and suddenly felt uncomfortable. She sent the commander a questioning gaze he made sure to avoid. Lucy didn't exactly know what she was going to answer when she opened her mouth, but she heard another voice call her name from behind them the moment she did.

"Hey, Lulu," Dan called, "wait for me!"

Lucy turned around and sent the man a puzzled look, thus missing the commander's frown. What had he called her?

"Don't think you can run away from me," Dan joked when he caught up. Well, she hoped he was joking.

"Lulu?" the commander repeated, arching a brow.

Dan sent him a curious glance and nodded.

"Yeah," he confirmed. "It's cute, it suits her."

The commander shook his head and snorted.

"If you say so..."

Dan frowned at him and opened his mouth to retort, but Lucy had no desire to watch them argue for hours about pet names.

"Did you need anything from me, Dan?" she asked a bit brusquely.

The young man turned shining eyes to her and smiled brightly. He looked like a puppy showering his owner with affection. It was sort of cute.

"I only need you to say my name to feel like the happiest man alive," he beamed, ignoring Natsu rolling his eyes. "But I had something to ask, yes. Would you like to go out with me tonight? We could go to the restaurant and watch a movie at my place? Rest assured, though, I'll be a true gentleman!"

Lucy believed him, he didn't look like he was the kind to pounce on women without permission. He was pretty attractive, taller than the commander and seemed to be a funny and nice guy too.

"Sorry," she said, "I already have plans for tonight. I'm staying at the commander's place."

Dan frowned in confusion.

"The commander? You mean him?" he pointed at Natsu with a lazy thumb and sighed. "Fine, then. I still have hope, though. If you call him commander, it means you guys aren't that close, right?"

Lucy felt herself blush thinking about all the times they could have gotten much closer. She opened her mouth only to stutter unintelligible sounds.

"That's none of your business," the commander grunted at the other man before grabbing Lucy's hand. "Come on, Luce."

Dan sent him a mean look, but neither he nor Lucy tried to stop Natsu. The young woman was too busy trying to hold back the satisfied smile that was threatening to give her true feelings away. Erza quickly started teasing them about what happened and the three of them stopped paying attention to their surroundings, thus missing Dan's muttered promise.

"So," Erza gave Lucy's shoulder a soft nudge. "I take it you're declining my offer for tonight? Or was it only an excuse to turn Dan down?"

Lucy didn't know if her friend was trying to give her a way out or if she only found it funny to embarrass her in front of the commander. Unfortunately for her, Lucy knew how to play this game too.

"It wasn't an excuse," she countered. "I'll stay at the commander's place. If it's not a bother to him, that is."

The man in question shrugged in mock indifference.

"You know it's not," he said.

Lucy smiled: yes, she knew. Erza's smirk matched her own when she resumed talking and asking what she most probably hoped to be embarrassing questions.

"I see," the doctor hummed. "May I ask why?"

Lucy's devilish smirk overpowered Erza's at that time.

"Of course," the blonde purred. "Do you remember the party we had at Mira's a few weeks ago? You had a bit much to drink and we talked about Jellal. I asked you how you'd spend the night if..."

"Alright," the doctor interrupted her. "It's fine, I remember. I understand, sorry."

O sweet victory.

Lucy fell asleep in the car on the way home. She would forget everything about her dream once she woke up, but for a moment she was back to her five year old self.

 _The sun had set, but it was still warm even as a gentle breeze brushed against her bare legs. A boy with pink hair was holding her hand and guiding her God knew where. The moonlight made him look like a moving silver statue. They were walking at a leisurely pace through the woods, listening to the stridulation of insects and hooting of an owl. Lucy tripped on a root and her friend immediately caught her arm to prevent her from falling. She chuckled and he shook his head, grinning back._

 _"You find it funny?" he laughed. "Don't go crying for me to carry you on my back when you scratch your knee."_

 _"I never asked you to carry me," the girl retorted, still smiling brightly. "You worry too much."_

 _"These are big words for a girl that small," the boy smirked._

 _Lucy jumped over another root, never letting go of her dear friend's hand._

 _"Be careful," he warned her, "Michelle will kill me if you come back with a new bruise somewhere."_

 _"Yes, yes," the little girl brushed him off. "Where are we going, by the way?"_

 _The boy sent her a playful glance over his shoulder and held her hand a bit tighter._

 _"It's a surprise," he said. "You'll love it, I promise."_

 _Lucy believed him. She believed everything he said. They walked for a few more minutes and the boy had to carry Lucy on his back to cross a stream, but the girl trotted enthusiastically the rest of the way. It was dark, they were children, walking alone in the forest, but she wasn't scared one bit. She always felt safe and happy whenever her pink haired friend was near her. They finally reached large bushes and the boy turned toward her._

 _"We're here," he grinned. "Close your eyes."_

 _The little girl obeyed and focused on the noises to try and guess what could the surprise be._

 _"You remember that time we talked about magic and you said it didn't exist?"_

 _Lucy nodded again, still grinning widely, but didn't say anything. Maybe there was a dragon behind the bushes! She focused really hard on the sounds, but only heard the soft noise of quiet water. She let her boy friend guide her through the bushes until he finally stopped her and went to stand behind her._

 _"Ready?" he asked and she nodded energetically. "Good. You can open your eyes."_

 _Once again, the girl obeyed. In front of her eyes were a lake, some bushes, trees and tall grass all around them. No dragon, though. The little girl did her best to hide her disappointment, but her friend could read her like an opened book and laughed at her small pout._

 _"Wait a moment," he said, putting his backpack on the grass. "I'll show you that magic does exist."_

 _He stood back up with both hands filled with some kind of heavy dust. Sand? He threw it in the direction of the lake and the wind carried it and dispersed it all around them. In a matter of seconds, hundreds of thousands of tiny creatures started glowing and slowly rose into the air. Lucy watched this ocean of golden stars, her mouth agape with incredulity and wonderment. All around her, above her head, on her friend's nose, the lights were everywhere. She turned on herself and forgot to wink in her fascinated contemplation of these wonderful creatures. The sight was magnificent, marvelous. She turned to her friend and gave him the most beautiful smile she had ever given to anyone._

 _"See?" the boy laughed. "I told you. Magic does exist."_

* * *

oOo

* * *

Lucy wasn't sure if she was awake or not, but someone was carrying her in their arms. Her father? If so, she didn't want to wake up. It was very comforting to be back in her father's arms. She heard faint voices, felt the cold wind against her face. All of a sudden, the wind died down and silence filled the air. They were inside. Lucy felt even more comfortable in the powerful and reassuring arms carrying her. She fell deeply asleep once more. If she had a dream after that, she couldn't remember it either. She only remembered the moment she left the comfort of the arms to lie on a soft mattress. She really wasn't sure if what happened next really did happen or if she was still dreaming, but she sobbed and called her father. Someone then shifted beside her on the bed and leaned down to gently kiss her forehead.

"I'll bring him back, Luce."

When the young woman opened her eyes again, it was morning. She recognized the room she was in right away, but she also noticed that she was alone in there. She yawned and stretched her back before rubbing her eyes and slowly dragging her lazy self out of bed. She walked out of the room dragging her feet and groaning like a zombie, scratching the back of her neck. Her hair was growing longer lately, she'd have to cut it soon. Her friends knew about her, but she still had to look like a boy to the rest of the world.

The living room was as empty as the bedroom and Lucy frowned. A pillow and a folded blanket were still on the couch. On the table in front of the TV was a lone white envelope. Lucy ungracefully slumped into the couch and sighed in relief when her back met the comfy pillow. She turned on the TV and watched a show for about twenty minutes before it got boring to death. She sighed. Where was he? She got up and walked to the fridge to get breakfast, thus finally finding the note the commander had left for her.

 _''Out jogging, might take a while. You've got mail, it's on the table. Make yourself at home. Natsu.''_

The young woman chuckled at the simplicity of the note. She grabbed a glass of juice and a box of cookies before going back to the couch. The envelope was still quietly waiting for her. She took it in her hand and turned it around: her name was written over the commander's address, the Academy's wax seal closed it. Arching her brows in surprise, the young woman opened the envelope and took the letter out. She read it attentively and her stomach contracted when she understood that it was an official summons for the Tournament. The event would start on Tuesday, which was much sooner than she had expected.

The door of the apartment opened as she put the letter back on the table. The young woman glanced at him in silence and he met her eyes with a confused look until he saw the opened letter.

"I got the same," he told her. "We have two days left to get ready."

Lucy nodded.

"Is this why you were out jogging?" she asked.

He smirked and shrugged while drinking water directly from the bottle.

"I train every day," he retorted with a smug smile.

"Oh please," she snorted. "You're so scared of having to face me that you're going to train on your own?"

This made him laugh for real and it stirred butterflies in Lucy's belly.

"I'm scared?" he repeated. "You wanna try me right now to see who should be scared? You should forfeit, you'll get hurt if you compete."

The young woman completely turned away from the letter and the cookies to kneel on the couch and glare at the commander.

"I won't," she retorted, "you know I can fight."

Natsu shrugged his shirt off and threw it on the floor, near the armchair. He walked to the kitchen to get another bottle of water, not paying attention to Lucy's embarrassed reaction.

"I do," he admitted. "You can fight normal people. I know each participant this year and believe me, they're not normal. If you had more time to learn some techniques maybe you'd have a chance."

"Then, teach me those techniques."

The commander arched a brow at her and smirked playfully, unbuttoning his pants.

"You want me to do that within two days? Why should I even do that? I'm not that nice, you know, you're still an opponent."

He pulled his pants down and Lucy blushed, averting her eyes and groaning.

"Can't you wait to be in your bedroom to do that..." she grumbled.

The commander looked at her with confused eyes for a second before understanding what she meant. He then sent her his signature mischievous smirk and emptied a second small bottle of water.

"Why? You saw much more already." She groaned even more at that and he laughed. "Alright, I agree."

Lucy cocked an eyebrow and sent him a wary glance.

"You agree to teach me or to put some pants on?" she verified.

Once more, he laughed wholeheartedly and Lucy loved this sound and the effect it had on her. She'd have to make him laugh like that more often.

"I agree to both," he smiled. "Go get ready, we're going out for a run."

* * *

 _Tuesday_

* * *

Lucy sighed for the hundredth time that day, trying to relieve some pressure. Since they were nearing the end of winter the weather wasn't really cold, but Lucy was still glad to have her combat uniform on: the gloves helped her hide her trembling hands.

"Get in line," Mirajane told them. "The general's speech is almost over."

In the Arena, the headmaster's powerful voice was stirring the assembly up and Lucy swallowed when she heard Makarov announce the official start of the Tournament. Lucy could have used a quiet moment to calm down, or even a supportive look from one of her friends, but she was alone at the end of the line. Juvia was in the front, the officers would enter the Arena after her.

"Ladies and gentlemen," Makarov raised his voice, "please give the competitors of our Tournament the welcome that is their due!"

The doors leading to the Arena slowly opened and Lucy could hear the loud cheers much more clearly. Someone standing a few meters ahead turned around and blew her a kiss and winked. She frowned at him and he laughed before turning back around. He had long blonde hair and scary eyes, but Lucy couldn't remember his name. She only remembered what the commander had told her about him and the way he fought. Before anxiety could overwhelm her, though, she took a deep breath in. She had spent the last few days training with the commander and she could say in all honesty that she had gotten a lot better at close combat thanks to his tips. She'd be fine.

The line started moving forward and Lucy was walking toward the center of the Arena in a matter of seconds. Lucy knew that civilians were allowed to enter the Arena as spectators during the Tournament, so it wasn't that surprising that the Arena was full. It was still an impressive sight. She saw a lot of banners and was very surprised to see that one of them was for her: Go Hawkeye! She smiled and waved a hand at them, triggering a loud fit of enthusiasm from her fans. She wasn't sure if she'd heard it right, but she thought she'd heard someone ask her to marry them.

When the participants were all standing in front of Makarov, the old man summarized the rules they had had to learn by heart and told them they'd have to pick a number from a jar for the draw. Lucy got number 4. The general talked some more and finally decided that it was time to announce the order of the fights. A nurse walked to the center of the Arena with a white plastic jar in her hands. Makarov put his hand inside and took out two small balls. He squinted his eyes at them and cleared his throat.

"First fight," he declared, "number 3 against number 7!"

While the crowd cheered very loudly, Lucy gulped and did her very best not to let any emotion show on her face, as instructed by the commander. Number 3 was Bakel, a massive guy always wearing a weird bandana and behaving like a freak. Downright creepy. Number 7 was Juvia. From the corner of her eye, Lucy saw Gray glare fiercely at Bakel when the latter started laughing at their blue haired friend like an utter pervert. Juvia looked completely calm, though.

"It will be the opening fight of the Tournament," Makarov went on. "It will start at 6pm sharp and I'll announce tomorrow's fights when this one's over. Try to rest until then."

Lucy and the other participants saluted and left the Arena under the crowd's loud cheers. Three hours left before Juvia's fight. As she walked toward the small door on the side of the Arena, she caught the eyes of Bacchus and noticed that he looked very confident about God knew what. Was he happy that Juvia was going to face Bakel? Did he want the nurse to get hurt because she was her friend? Unlikely: Lucy and Juvia weren't close enough for outside people to figure them out.

"Ignore him," a deep voice commanded her. "He's trying to destabilize you."

Lucy nodded and welcomed the warm feeling that flowed into her when she heard his voice and felt his body right behind hers.

"Your hair is a bit long," the commander noticed. "Can you try tying it up?"

Lucy reached up and felt the strands. To any other girl it would still be considered too short, but it was indeed growing longer.

"I don't know if they're long enough for that," she admitted, "but I'll try."

"Good," Natsu approved. "Come with me for a moment."

They walked through the old stone corridors of the Arena and ignored the other participants that were starting to pick fights with each other. Lucy saw Gray leading Juvia away from the others and was dying to follow them and play spies, but she was even more interested in what the commander wanted. They exited the Arena and he slowed down to enjoy the fresh air and the comforting smell of grass and wood. He glanced over his shoulder to make sure Lucy was still following him and she smiled at him. He stopped and turned around. They were standing between the large bin store and the garages. Not the most romantic setting ever, but this was Natsu.

"I know it stinks," he shrugged, "but no one will come looking for us here."

He buried his hand in the pocket of his pants and was about to pull something out of it when he froze and hesitated. He glanced at her with a cautious gaze and she arched a brow, confused.

"Um," he hesitated, "I don't know if you remember this..."

He took a little black box out of his pocket and observed her reaction, but she had no idea what she was supposed to remember.

"I guess not," he smiled nervously. "I'm not surprised or anything, I gave it to you years ago..."

Lucy frowned and was starting to feel guilty for not remembering this box when she saw that the commander looked a bit disappointed. The thing did look familiar, though. The commander opened the box and the young woman froze in shock when the content was revealed to her. An elegant wedding ring and a thin gold chain sat on a tiny black velvet cushion. Her heart hammered in her chest as she stared at the jewel.

"I found it near the ranch when I was looking for you," he explained. "You probably lost it in the explosion."

She hesitatingly reached out and her hands froze centimeters away from the little box. This jewel wasn't any ordinary gift, after all. The commander noticed her reaction and cleared his throat.

"You don't have to think anything much of it," he assured. "I remember what I said when I gave it to you, but I was just a child. There's no special meaning, I gave it to you, so it's yours."

This wedding ring belonged to his mother, it was a very precious item for him and Lucy knew it. How could she take such an important thing from him? But what would he think if she were to refuse it?

"I... I can't accept it," she gulped nervously and her heart broke when she saw his pained reaction. "This ring is more than just a mere gift..."

"I know," the commander nodded, trying not to look affected by her rejection. "Don't worry, I was just making sure..."

He looked adorable at the moment and Lucy was dying to pull him in a tight hug to comfort him, but she knew this wasn't what he needed. She knew what he needed and she was willing to give it to him, but she wanted to do it right.

"I can't accept it yet," she specified, "because I have nothing to give you in return."

The commander frowned in confusion at this, but Lucy went on without giving him the time to interrogate her or tell her he didn't need anything in return.

"Until I find something precious enough to give you in exchange for the ring," she said, "will you keep it for me?"

The young man smiled softly and shook his head.

"You really don't need to give me anything in return," he sighed. "Of course, I'll keep it."

Feeling brave and taking advantage of the propitious atmosphere, Lucy briefly placed her hands on his shoulders to give him a peck on the cheek. She thanked him and walked back to the Arena, ignoring his amused eyes and smug smile.

When she got back to the Arena, she walked to the training field where she knew Juvia was warming up for the upcoming fight. The blue haired nurse was rehearsing complex sequences of combat techniques Lucy wasn't sure she would get to use against Bakel. Gray was leaning against the wall on the side, analysing each of her movements.

"How is it going?" Lucy asked, leaning beside him on the wall.

The young man shrugged.

"She isn't aggressive enough," he muttered. "She's much smaller and lighter than Bakel and she refuses to use dirty tricks. I swear if that bastard goes too far, I'll end the fight myself..."

He was worried sick about her, it was so cute. Lucy had to admit that she was worried as well, Juvia's fighting style looked too elegant and sophisticated to be used against brutes like Bakel. That guy was pretty scary... Speaking of scary guys.

"Hey, Gray," she called, "who's Hades?"

She knew asking this out of the blue would most probably surprise him, and it did. The young man tensed and coughed awkwardly.

"What do you mean? Ultear told you he's the leader of the Octagon's intervention team..."

"Oh, come on," Lucy groaned. "I saw how you guys reacted to his name. You know him well and I want to know how."

Gray gulped and averted his eyes, looking very uncomfortable. He shifted uncomfortably and nervously licked his lips.

"Listen, I really don't think Natsu would like to hear that I told you about it..."

"But no one else wants to!" she retorted. "Speak or I'm sending Ultear a message to tell her that you have a crush on Juvia."

Her taciturn friend glared at her.

"You wouldn't dare."

"Try me."

They glared at each other for another pretty long moment, listening to Juvia's quick breathing and sharp expirations before Gray gave up, groaned and sighed in annoyance.

"Fine, dammit. You're a real pain. Hades was the head of the academy before Makarov," he said. "He was Natsu's instructor and had him take the fear test..."

Lucy remembered her conversation with Mira and her friend's distressed look when she asked her to tell her more about Natsu's test. Lucy was no psychologist, but anyone could guess the commander's test had most probably gone very wrong. She took a deep breath in and clenched her teeth, readying herself for what was coming.

"Go on," she demanded.

Gray hesitated, eyes trained on the beautiful nurse that was still exercising in the center of the training area, her feet brushing the ground and sending earth and dust flying all around her. He briefly clenched his jaw before looking at her straight in the eyes with an intensity she hadn't been expecting.

"When you hear about what happened, you'll regret having asked this question," he warned. "Do you still want to know?"

The real question to Lucy was: did she have the right to know? Whatever it was that happened to the commander, it was personal. Did she have the right to pry into his private life after she had refused the ring? Granted, it was a temporary refusal, but still... did she have the right to know everything about him when she was still keeping secrets from him?

"I have to find Loke," she mumbled. "See you later."

With that, she turned around and buried her hands in the pockets of her pants, dragging her feet toward the exit of the training area. Her conversation with Gray had unsettled her and she mindlessly walked around the arena not really knowing where she was heading. The sky was painted a deep shade of blue quickly turning dark and a cool wind brushed against her face when she walked out of the arena. With everyone being busy getting ready for the Tournament, the area was empty and quiet. In front of her, the trees looked like an army of giant shadows preventing her and anybody else from entering their sanctified land, in the depths of which a body was being crushed under the weight of the lake's peaceful water. The stars were faintly glowing little dots, but Lucy knew they would soon shine brightly.

* * *

oOo

* * *

A religious silence fell upon the arena when the fighters entered the broad sand ring. The civilians of the country were allowed to buy a pass to watch the fights: thousands of them were sitting in the bleachers, but you could have heard a fly sneeze. Lucy gulped. She was standing with some of the other participants in the balcony, observing her friend and her opponent below. They were both dressed in the special black combat uniform, but none of them was wearing their helmet. Bakel wasn't even wearing any protection, he was only wearing his uniform pants, a black tee-shirt and his weird bandana. Juvia had been wiser and was wearing armored shin guards going up to cover her knees, her armored jacket with a high collar protecting her neck and her armored gloves.

"Where the hell is her helmet," Lucy heard Gray groan beside her.

Juvia's hair was tied up in a high ponytail and it gently swung in her back when the soft wind lazily flowed through the arena. She looked like a modern amazon.

"She looks so hot," Loke mused out loud.

Gray glared at him and Lucy arched a brow when she noticed her friend's presence among them.

"Where the hell have you been all day long?" she asked. "And you're not supposed to be here, this balcony's reserved for the participants..."

Loke grinned at her.

"I've been around," he sang. "Were you worried about me? That's so cute! Have you finally fallen in love with me?"

"No."

"You still can leave, you know," the commander told Gray. "Everyone would understand."

"Hell no..." Gray spat.

The commander looked like he wanted to say something more, but the general chose this moment to address the audience with his new toy: a megaphone. Lucy's heart hammered in her chest and her blood pumped against her ears as the small old man beamed and cheered. It was finally starting. A countdown appeared on a giant black screen and the crowd started counting down from ten along with the screen. In the fraction of a second that followed the appearance of the zero on the screen, Juvia pounced on her opponent. She kicked his left knee so hard he fell down with no resistance, allowing her to punch him straight in the face. Lucy stared in awe as the large man spat a tooth out, blood flowing down his chin, and his head hit the ground. Loke burst out laughing when he saw that and Lucy saw the commander grin slightly. In Juvia's place, Lucy would have kept punching him until he lost consciousness, but Juvia took a step back after this attack.

"What the hell is she doing?" Lucy frowned.

Gray gritted his teeth and clenched his fists.

"This is what I meant when I said she was way too nice when fighting," he groaned. "She still obeys the rules."

Bakel struggled to stand back up, but he eventually did. He wiped the blood and the sand off his face and glared at the blue haired Valkyrie. Juvia was on guard when her opponent was ready to resume the fight. Dropping the cool act, Bakel roared in fury as he lifted his brawny arms to send powerful punches her way. He was fast for a man that large, but Juvia was much faster. She parried both hits and elbowed him hard enough to break a few ribs. He fell again, screaming in pain, and Juvia once again stepped back.

From where she stood, Lucy could hear Bakel insult Juvia and threaten to kill her while groaning in pain. From the way he was glaring furiously at the bluenette's opponent, Lucy guessed Gray could hear it too. Even Loke wasn't smiling at all anymore. There wasn't any real reason to get angry, though. Bakel was very clearly losing the fight, curled up on the sand, both hands holding his stomach. Juvia's next attack would be the last one.

Beside her, two large hands slowly gripped the banister. The commander leaned forward, staring at Bakel with a frown.

"What is he doing?" he asked, seemingly to himself.

Intrigued, Lucy looked at Bakel as well. He was still kneeling, arms moving slowly around his stomach. Just like the commander, Lucy frowned. The referee decided to go check on Bakel to see if he was still able to fight, but he got his answer before he could reach him. All of a sudden, Bakel jumped to his feet and pounced on Juvia, a knife in his right hand.

"What the fuck!?" Lucy couldn't tell if she had yelled louder than Gray, but it certainly didn't matter at the moment. Bakel had a weapon!

"Hey!" Loke yelled. "Referee! Stop the fight!"

Either the referee didn't hear Loke or he voluntarily ignored him, but he didn't move an inch. Juvia opened wide eyes for a second, but she was impressively quick to react. She parried the blow, grabbed Bakel's wrist and twisted it until it broke. The giant dropped the knife and roared in pain as he fell to his knees. The next punch Juvia gave him hit his temple with terrific strength and he finally lost consciousness. A long moment of stunned silence ensued, the crowd hesitating between feeling shocked that one of the participants had tried to kill his opponent and cheering for the victor. The moment of hesitation didn't last that long, actually, and the whole arena exploded in cheers, whistles and applause. Gray sighed in relief and Loke laughed.

"Look at that!" he beamed. "Our cute shy little Juvia was a real badass fighter all along!"

Juvia officially won her fight and Bakel was handed over to the military police. It surprised Lucy, but since no one had been hurt, the Tournament went on after a two-hour break. The participants were summoned to the general's office during the break and he warned them about the consequences of breaking the rules and using weapons. Loke wasn't around anymore when she got back to the balcony, but she didn't worry about it since he tended to disappear a lot lately. They would be no more fights for the day, but the crowd was just as interested in the results of the draw. Makarov pulled out more balls from his jar and gave them the order of the upcoming fights. The first fight would be number 4 against number 1, then it would be number 2 against number 14 and number 6 against number 9. Lucy looked at the board and gulped. She was number 4, but who was number 1?

"Damn," Gray frowned. "I'm up against Clive right from the beginning..." So, Gray was the unfortunate number 9. "Gajeel will face Jellal, and you... Oh."

Lucy frowned at him.

"What?" she asked. "Who's my opponent?"

The commander's cousin shrugged and checked the board once more.

"Well, I'm not sure," he hesitated.

"It's Bacchus," the commander said. "No need to freak out, we trained for this."

Lucy stared at the number 1 written in front of her number 4 on the board. The commander was right, she was ready. She had to be. She gulped.

"I should go to bed early," she smiled. "Good night, everyone."

"Good idea," Gray agreed. "I'll go check on Juvia before going back to my room."

"Do you want me to come with you?" Lucy asked. Talking to her friend would probably help her think about something else.

"Um... no," Gray answered. "There's something I have to tell her in private."

Now, this obviously efficiently sparked her interest, but she knew she wouldn't get anything out of him before he had his talk with Juvia, so she would patiently wait until morning to question him.

"Fine," Lucy smiled, "see you, guys."

"I'll join you soon," the commander told her, earning sly looks from the other boys. "I meant the room, you idiots. I live there too, so stop looking at me like that."

It was still early and Lucy was far too nervous to sleep, but she needed a shower and some quiet time, so she quickly walked back to her room. On her way to the dormitory, Lucy noticed that the stars were shining much brighter now. They looked like millions of fireflies. Feeling a bit more relaxed, Lucy entered the building and climbed up the stairs. She opened the door to her room and immediately rummaged through the commander's stuff to get a small bottle of water, knowing he wouldn't mind if she took one. From the corner of her eye, she saw something small and white on her bed and almost choked on her water. Another letter.

Lucy put the bottle down and stared at the small letter as if it could change into a monster at any moment and try to eat her. This couldn't be possible... After a brief moment of hesitation, Lucy opened the letter and read the content. She was halfway though the letter when she understood what the message meant this time. Panicked, horrified, Lucy dropped the letter and ran out of the room. Luckily, there were more buses during the Tournament, so Lucy would get one even if it was this late. Since everyone was still in the arena, she easily got out of the Academy and ran for the nearest station. She knew the commander would find the letter and read it. She knew he would be absolutely furious at her for leaving alone when she was obviously throwing herself into the lion's jaw.

 _''Hello again, Little Bird_

 _I think you and your man have been underestimating me, lately. I tell the idiot commander to stay away from you and you spend the weekend at his place? Fine. I hope you enjoyed this pig's filthy embrace because you'll pay for it dearly. Is what I want to say, but I'm a bit tired of this situation. I'm actually a nice person, you know? I found your adoptive mother a few weeks ago, I think we look alike, don't you? I want to negotiate with you, we can stop everything right now. You have until midnight to come to the abandoned Bank Tower, south district. Come alone._

 _Yours, truly._

 _K''_

The fact that it was a trap was so painfully obvious. Lucy knew the chances of something terrible happening to her tonight were very high. But Kyoka had found Aquarius... What else could she do? Wait for her team to gather and head there? Kyoka still had a spy in the Academy, she would have been warned. Aquarius was the last living person Lucy loved like a mother, she wouldn't survive it if she were to lose her as well. Lucy got to the station before the bus and had to wait for almost twenty minutes under the now pouring rain before it arrived.

Lucy stayed up even though they were lots of free seats and glanced at her watch. It wasn't too late, she'd make it on time. Despite knowing that, the young woman cursed every time the driver had to stop. It took them twenty more minutes to reach the south district. Lucy recognized the area and noticed that they'd have to get very close to the construction site of the future mall. She glanced at her watch again and took a deep breath in when she realized she'd reach the meeting point in less than ten minutes. The driver turned left at a crossroads and Lucy had to squeeze her eyes shut when a powerful floodlight blinded her.

"Da hell?" the driver groaned.

A second later, she heard honking and the sound of squealing tires. Then, a terrible shock and the sound of everything around her exploding, like a glass castle collapsing. Then, nothing.

* * *

 **End of chapter 23**

Hey there! I hope everyone's doing alright and I really hope you enjoyed this chapter! I said it on Tumblr, but we're nearing the end of part I very quickly! Something crazy will happen at the end of the closing chapter, which will be the 25th!

The next chapter will be written from Natsu's point of view!

As usual, don't hesitate to leave a review or PM me to tell me what you've thought of it or if you have any question. Thank you so much to everyone who followed, favorited or reviewed this story! There are more than 500 people following Dauntless, this is seriously freaking awesome!

Also, I apologize in advance because I'm going to do something horrible to Erza...

Questions/Answers

Q (from Rein Serenity): Will we have some Jerza moments in the near future? Or even with Bisca and Alzack?

A: Yes to both. I'll unleash my romantic creativity in the second part!

Q (from 4evrDorkly17): Was Lucy's hand hurt because of the handcuffs?

A: I honestly don't remember, but probably.

Q (from FlameDragonHime):Which crazy bitch? There are many

A: Fair point. It's Kyoka.

Q (from Guest): how much time do you usually spend writing per week?

A: Really hard to say. I'm a university student and I work too, so I rarely have the time to write more than five hours a week.

There are reviews I couldn't answer to because you guys didn't log in when you left them! Thank you to the Guest who told me about An angel with a shotgun!

Thank you to all of you who gave me so much love and support in your reviews, it really means the world to me. It's always a pleasure writing for you, guys!


	24. Chapter 24: Atlas

**PART I – Resolution**

Chapter XXIV – Atlas

* * *

" _Someday, Locke Lamora," he said, "someday, you're going to fuck up so magnificently, so ambitiously, so overwhelmingly that the sky will light up and the moons will spin and the gods themselves will shit comets with glee. And I just hope I'm still around to see it."_

" _Oh please," said Locke. "It'll never happen."_

 _\- Scott Lynch, The Lies of Locke Lamora_

* * *

 _Natsu panted and winced in pain as he ran down the corridor, trying to remember where the exit was. He knew the guards were right behind him, he could hear their boots against the stone as they ran. He spat blood. He had been shot and he knew that they were still at least two bullets inside his body._

 _"Here!" a guard yelled near him._

 _Fuck, he had been found. He ran faster and whimpered in pain when his wounds and tired limbs protested against the effort. His vision blurred and he fell to his knees, cursing his own weakness. He had to stand up. Stand up, good for nothing, stand up! Gritting his teeth, he leaned on the wall for support as he laboriously stood back up. He had to get out of there, if he didn't there would be no way to save Jude. He had been so fucking close! The guards started firing again and he did his best to riposte, but he was exhausted. He tripped on a large stone and fell down a set of stone stairs. In the commotion, the guards lost sight of him and ran down the corridor without paying attention to the narrow stairs on the side. But Natsu knew they would be quick to understand that they had made a mistake. Yet, he couldn't move. His body wasn't responding anymore and his will to fight was evaporating through his open wounds, along with his blood. He was already losing consciousness when he saw a pair of boots come to a stop right by his head._

 _"How could they..." the man growled, "to a child..."_

 _Natsu blacked out after that. When he woke up, he was lying on the backseat of Erza's car. She was taking him to the Academy's hospital._

* * *

The pouring rain drenched him to the bone, blinded him and made the road slippy as he ran faster than he ever had. He couldn't remember how many times he lost his balance, but he somehow managed to prevent every fall. He felt like he was having a nightmare: like when you try to run, but your feet refuse to move normally and you look like an idiot running in slow motion. His lungs were burning and, for the first time in many years, he was terrified. He heard the sirens and saw the swirling light of the beacons and lightbars ahead. His heart hammering in his chest, he sped up until he reached the police roadblock and jumped over the first car blocking his way, sliding across the hood. An officer yelled after him, but he ignored the man, knowing Erza would explain things when she caught up. A second officer walked up to him and held a hand up when he saw him run through the roadblock.

"Sir," he hammered, "step back! This area is out of... ouf!"

The commander's mind didn't really register that pushing a police officer so hard that the man crashed into the nearest car to get him out of his way wasn't the wisest idea he ever got, his mind too focused on the bright lights behind the police cars and fire trucks. When he was close enough, the sight of the accident almost paralyzed him. All around, people were crying, screaming, bleeding and limping away from the scene. Natsu's own laboured breathing sounded muffled to him, as if his mind was drifting away from the harsh reality of what he was seeing. But there he was, standing in front of the gutted, knocked over bus. Someone was trying to extricate himself from the busted metal jail, skin and clothes lacerated by the broken glass of the window.

"Help me!" he screamed, tears running down his face. "Please, help me!"

The bus was lying on its side, it had apparently slid through the road until it crashed against a large building. The metal walls of the vehicle had been distorted by the violence of the impact with both the heavy truck and the building. The truck in question was heavily distorted as well, but was still standing over his agonizing victim. Several men were trying to climb on the bus to help the man out, but the policemen had been ordered not to let them near the accident scene.

Finally breaking out of his trance, Natsu looked all around him, desperately searching for a familiar blonde head in the crowd.

"Natsu!" the commander turned around, hope filling his heart. "I asked the medical staff if they saw her, but they're completely overwhelmed. Mira's still with them... Did you find her?"

The young man did his best to hide his immense disappointment, but obviously failed and his face gave him away to the doctor. She understood everything right away.

"No way..."

Natsu gritted his teeth and clenched his fists. He could imagine hundreds of scenarios in which Lucy hadn't boarded the bus, or just wasn't inside anymore when the truck had collided with it. But deep down, he knew the truth. Lucy was still in the bus.

* * *

 _An hour earlier..._

* * *

Natsu glanced at his watch for the hundredth time. The recruits had decided to throw a party in Juvia's honor and he had been forced to take part. Makarov allowed them to buy beers and snacks for the party, but had everyone promise they'd behave. From what he could see, it looked like they were going to keep their promise. From the corner of his eye, he saw an officer escort the referee to the car. The man swore he tried his best to move and stop the fight, but his body had refused to cooperate somehow. He was going to the hospital to see if he had been drugged.

The party was being held in the arena, so there wasn't any wind and they still could see the stars. The commander sighed and put his glass down on a nearby table, deciding that he had spent enough time among his recruits. He knew that Gajeel had left a long time ago and Gray was somewhere with Juvia. The other officers said they were too busy to attend the party, Mirajane excepted, but he was starting to think that they probably just didn't want to come. He turned to exit the arena when he saw two of his friends talking in private, hidden by the shadows inside a corridor. Erza and Loke. Natsu clenched his jaw and averted his eyes. He had noticed that the boy wasn't around much lately, he always had something to do and it intrigued him. So, several days ago, the commander followed him to see what he was doing. It turned out that he was meeting Erza and the commander was pretty sure that the doctor wasn't cheating on Jellal with the playboy, so he questioned her about it. She had been reluctant to talk, but she ended up telling him about Loke's situation and Natsu wished he hadn't asked about it. That boy was a really good guy, a loyal friend and a brave warrior. He deserved so much better... Natsu had no idea how and when in the world he was planning to say that to Lucy... He didn't even know if he was planning to do it at all. Would she be furious at Natsu if she came to learn that he was in the know and kept Loke's secret? It wasn't the kind of news you could just spread lightly and she was already very stressed out. He was no idiot, even he could see that she was very nervous about the fight with Bacchus. There was no reason to be, though. He'd jump over the balcony's railing to put an end to the fight if he had to.

He didn't want to interrupt them, so he walked toward another corridor to exit the arena. A minute later, the commander felt a cold drop of rain fall on his nose. He blinked and looked up to witness the start of an intense downpour. The party naturally reached its end as everyone started running around to gather the important things and run back to the dormitories. Sting slipped on the already soaked earth and fell face first in the mud, yelling at his brother for passively watching the scene while doing absolutely nothing to prevent the fall. Elfman looked at his older sister dancing in the rain with a bright smile on her face and the commander didn't pay it too much attention at the time, but Elfman's smile looked a bit off. Natsu didn't run back to the dormitories, there was no way he'd run for cover for something like that: it was only water, not sulfuric acid. Since he was among the only ones who refused to run, he was soon walking relatively alone and had to admit the sudden moment of peace greatly appeased him. Even the rain drops weren't a bother at all.

He took his sweet time to walk around the Arena and head to the main part of the campus, where the dormitories and school buildings were. As he finally reached the dormitories, the commander caught a glimpse of a surprising sight: Juvia wearing Gray's coat and waiting for the rain to die down while his cousin held her from behind, arms around her waist and chin rested on her shoulder. None of them looked like they were trying to hide from the others, but the commander still thought they looked really close. When in the world had Gray opened up enough to embrace a girl like that? Natsu knew he had always tended to completely overlook several aspects of his personal life, but it seemed to happen more frequently lately.

Lost in his thoughts, the commander didn't see the person running toward him from inside the dormitories. The door was literally kicked open and violently bumped against his face.

"What the fu..."

Febrile hands grabbed him by the collar of his shirt before he could curse and he suddenly found himself facing a very agitated Mirajane. There was no trace of the bright smile she was wearing just moments earlier as she danced around her brother.

"Natsu!" she yelled in his face. "How could you let her do that!? Wait, that's not I meant, I know it's not your fault... But what are we going to do? We have to go after her, now! I hope you know where the abandoned Bank Tower is..."

The commander had started to worry the moment Mira had started to ramble on, which was pretty rare, and her unintelligible words didn't help.

"Mira," he interrupted her ranting, "I don't understand a word you're saying. Calm down and explain yourself clearly."

He thought she was going to do just that when she took a deep breath in, but instead she held out a small piece of paper. The commander unceremoniously took it and felt his blood freeze the moment he recognized Kyoka's handwriting.

"Do you have the keys?" he asked, voice low.

"Erza's already starting the car," Mira answered, "let's go!"

Before leaving the Academy with a car, Erza had had to warn the general to obtain an authorization and on the way to the south district, Mira got a phone call from him. Natsu's heart painfully contracted when he heard that a heavy truck had collided with the only bus going toward the south district and knocked it over. They were lots of victims, according to the medical staff. Erza unconsciously started to drive much faster as she yelled her questions to Mira's phone. The general sounded very tense as well, but he refused to admit that the fact that he could get no information about Lucy was bad news. The ride to reach the accident scene felt hellishly long for the three of them. At some point, they tried taking a shortcut through the town and got stuck behind a very slow grandma driving a moving trash bin. The shortcut ended up taking more time than the normal road and it deeply displeased the commander and Erza.

Natsu didn't believe in God, at least not in the god people were talking about. If there really was a god somewhere, it wasn't a creature human beings could relate to and picture as an old man with a beard. It would be an unimaginable entity, unaware or uninterested in mankind's existence. But even if this entity was deaf to prayers, it definitely operated for the wellbeing of the planet and may even have the power to unconsciously produce miracles which would benefit some individuals. If it was the case, Natsu hoped from the bottom of his heart that Lucy would benefit from this entity's power. He knew it was most probably useless, but he still prayed for her to be safe. It was the only miracle he needed.

When the car came to a stop, Natsu heard Erza curse and swear at the roadblock. The commander was out of the car before the doctor had the time to turn around and explain the situation.

* * *

 _Back to the story's present time..._

* * *

"My son's in the bus!" someone cried.

"Jill! Answer me! Where are you, Jill!?"

"Someone... please, help me... my leg..."

Natsu didn't shut them out on purpose, his mind only went on self-protection mode. It wasn't the first time that something like that happened to him, though. There was this one time when he was in Alabasta: a very old building had collapsed near a school and killed hundreds of people, mainly children. One voice did manage to catch his attention, though. The voice of one of the police officers who was talking with a fireman.

"Where's the driver of the truck?" the fireman asked. "If he's still alive, judging from the force of the impact, he's probably dying from his wounds."

The policeman snorted at this and answered without paying any attention to his surroundings.

"Nah, that bastard jumped out of the truck before the collision. It was no accident, he did it on purpose."

Natsu's blood froze. It wasn't an accident, someone threw a fucking truck at the bus. In his head, the commander saw Lucy's sad smile as she told him that there was nothing he could do to keep her safe. She was right. He thought that after all these years of training he was strong enough to protect her, but he kept failing her. Fuck it, he was done playing by the rules. There was no way in hell he was losing her again, no matter what he had to do to prevent that. Someone tried to kill her tonight, and might have succeeded. It had to be someone related to Kyoka and the Octagon, he was sure of it. Fine, you motherfucking bastards, he inwardly growled. If that was how it was going to be, Natsu was willing to play along. He'd tear the whole army to pieces if he had to, he'd just take his magical injection more often to increase his strength and endurance.

First things first, he had to find the bastard who drove the truck and jumped out before it collided with the bus. He wasn't stupid enough to believe that Kyoka had done it herself, but the driver had to be someone she trusted. During his fourth mission with the Elite Squad, Natsu was captured by the enemy. It took his team almost three weeks to find and free him. In the meantime, he was tortured all day and all night long. In other words, he knew how to make somebody talk.

Somewhere inside him, something changed when he unconsciously accepted the fact that he was ready to become a true executioner to destroy anyone threatening Lucy's safety. It felt like he had been holding on all this time to keep a door open despite the pressure on the other side and now he was tired of fighting to keep the door open. He let go of the door and went numb as it slammed shut. One thing was for sure: if Lucy didn't make it out of this bus alive, the door would never open again.

One of the firemen walked by him and it seemed to wake him up. He grabbed the man by the collar of his protection jacket and glared at him with predatory eyes.

"I don't see any of your men going inside," he growled menacingly, "when are you going to go help the victims out?"

The man gulped, but quickly gathered his courage to stand up to the angry officer. He straightened up and pushed the commander's hands away with a scowl.

"Don't touch me," he warned. "I don't know who you think you are, but I know you have no authority over us. The walls and balcony over the bus were weakened by the impact, there's a high risk of the whole facade collapsing. No one's allowed to come close, not even us."

The commander groaned in annoyance and turned away. Deep down he knew the fireman was right to be careful and he knew he shouldn't have been this aggressive, but this was Lucy they were talking about. The whole world could fall apart for all he cared, as long as his friend was fine. He walked with determination toward the debris of the accident, his mind set on getting her out of there himself. A large hand landed on his shoulder and his owner was strong enough to pull the commander back, forcefully turning him around. His first reaction would normally have been to punch the nuisance away, but he luckily recognized Laxus and managed to hold himself back.

"What the hell are you doing here?" he growled.

"Mira called me," he said. "I heard what the fireman said just now, you can't go near the bus."

The commander roughly removed his friend's hand from his shoulder and resumed walking.

"Watch me," he retorted.

He didn't have to wait long before his tall friend moved to block his way again. The commander's jaw contracted menacingly, but Laxus was just as stubborn and even stronger than he was. His words hit the commander like thunder and efficiently calmed him down.

"I don't care if you want to die in the collapse," he said with a low voice, "but everyone will be devastated if your reckless actions get both you and Lucy killed. We can find a way to save everyone in this bus, but we need to take the time to think about it and I won't let you deprive us of our chance to do so."

The reality of these words sank into him like acid and he averted his eyes, ashamed of himself. His friend was right, he had to stay away from the bus. Each and every organ in his body burned with the need to move and actually do something useful. Natsu wasn't used to being this powerless, he knew the wait until the facade was secured would last a hundred years in his head. He nodded weakly to let the lieutenant know that he would behave and decided to go ask the firemen and medical staff if they needed any help. The rain seemed to be falling harder with each passing second, which matched the commander's mood pretty well and reduced the number of bystanders around them.

When approaching a small group near a fire truck, Natsu saw Erza talking with two policemen, four doctors and a fireman. He frowned when he noticed how agitated Erza looked and decided to approach them as discreetly as possible.

"It happened less than half an hour ago," the first policeman growled. "If the blood we found is his, he's probably still around. We have to give it a try."

"No," another policeman countered, "we have to obey orders. What if we really go after him and something happens here? I don't wanna get fired."

"It really was a lot of blood, though," a doctor mused out loud, "and it matches the various testimonies we heard about the accident. The driver wasn't as well prepared as we had thought."

"He's still near," Erza concluded. "And he's badly injured."

And suddenly, Natsu had something to do. Passively waiting for the facade to be secured and for Lucy to be evacuated wasn't an option anymore. He had a target. First things first, find the blood. Even if there really was a lot of it, the heavy rain would quickly wash it off. Natsu walked away from the group and around the truck to make sure none of his friends would see him. He noticed several policemen near a specific spot in the street ahead and walked in that direction. He wasn't the only hunter in the game, but he was the best.

"Stop right there," one of the policemen ordered, "no one's allowed to... oh."

The commander rarely used his insignia to get what he wanted, but he had to admit it was awfully efficient. He crouched down near the puddle of blood lazily flowing down the pavement and gritted his teeth, angry at the rain for damaging his precious clue. The doctor was right, though, that was an awful lot of blood.

"There has to be more blood," he said to himself.

The nearest policeman heard him, though, and figured he was supposed to answer.

"Well," he hesitated, "we found some more, but only drops of it and the rain washed it away..."

"Drops? We aren't talking about drops here, you should have found more puddles." Unless he used a makeshift tourniquet to stop the blood flow, the commander thought. "Where were the drops?"

The policeman took him to a perpendicular street that led down to the commercial area and the river. If the driver really had dragged his bloody carcass there, someone would have noticed him. The commander slowly walked down the street and carefully inspected his surroundings until he finally found what he was looking for.

"Go back," he ordered the policeman that was accompanying him. "Make sure no one approaches the blood puddle."

"What about you, sir?"

He shrugged and waved the other man off.

"I'll keep looking for a clue," he lied. "I'll call you if I need anything."

When he was finally alone, the commander turned to face the left wall. A bloody handprint had been applied on the stone right next to a very narrow passageway with stone stairs leading down to a dark alley leading to a dead end. The commander didn't hesitate to climb down, right hand going to his belt to grab his gun. The other side of the alley was entirely engulfed in darkness, but Natsu could hear sobs and whimpers from over there. It didn't take him a minute to find himself standing over a crouching man smeared with blood. The man had his left leg in a garbage bag, but the commander saw the disturbing bump on the plastic and quickly understood that he had an open tibia-fibula fracture. Natsu crouched in front of him.

"I guess you're done running," he said.

The man kept crying as his hands hovered over the wound, dying to ease the pain, but not daring to touch it.

"Help... please..."

The commander looked at him with eyes cold as ice, not moving an inch.

"I saw a woman near the bus with the same wound," he said.

The injured man sobbed, his nose running, his entire body shaking with pain and fear. He had blood all over his hands and spread it on his face every time he tried to wipe it.

"I'm so... sorry," he cried. "I didn't..."

"You didn't what?" Natsu interrupted him. "Didn't want to throw a truck at innocent people? Didn't want to break your leg while jumping out?"

"I'm sorry..." the man kept crying.

"I don't give a damn," the commander growled menacingly. "You're gonna talk, buddy. I know it was Kyoka who sent you. Where is she now?"

The driver opened wide, terrified eyes that were almost as red as the blood on his face.

"She'll kill me..." Natsu stared at him with eyes that clearly showed he couldn't care less. "I can't..."

Still keeping a neutral look, the commander harshly covered the man's mouth with his left hand before punching his injured leg with his right fist. The man screamed with pain, his body shook with so much strength that it probably worsened the fracture. His face entirely tear-stained, the driver instinctively punched the stone walls to try and counterbalance the pain in his leg. Natsu violently grabbed him by the neck to stop him and force him to look at him in the eye.

"I can do much worse than this," he warned. "Where is she now?"

It took him two more punches before the driver gave in and started talking. He swore he didn't know where Kyoka was, but he told him she always gave her orders through her assistant. Said assistant happened to be the spy Makarov was trying to unmask and whose name was known by the driver. Makarov wouldn't have to try anymore, for Natsu now knew who the traitor was. And he really wished from the bottom of his heart he could go back to the time he didn't know.

"You're lying..." the commander groaned.

"I'm not, I swear," the driver countered, still crying. "I told you everything I know, I promise!"

The driver even gave Natsu a complete physical description and a handful of explanations that confirmed what he was saying. Even if he didn't want to accept it, the fact that the traitor was one of his friends didn't change.

"I'm sorry," the driver said when he saw the commander's devastated look.

For some reason, this deeply angered him and he punched the injured man unconscious. He stood back up and cursed, violently punched the wall and turned around. There, standing in front of him with a very serious look in here eyes, was Erza. She had heard everything.

"Erza..." Natsu mentally berated himself when he heard his voice tremble.

The doctor's jaw contracted and she nodded, understanding how he felt.

"Let's go," she said. "We'll leave him to the medical staff."

* * *

oOo

* * *

They didn't say a thing about what they had learned from the driver, they didn't need to. They both knew what they had to do, even if it broke their hearts. When they got back to the bus, Mira ran to them with a scowl on her face. By tacit agreement, Natsu and Erza agreed to keep this new information to themselves until they could tell Makarov about it.

"Where have you two been!?" she exclaimed. "The facade's almost secured, they're going to start the evacuation!"

This efficiently made Natsu forget everything about the spy and the rest of the world. He followed her hurriedly through the crowd of people and watched the specialists working on the facade. The firemen surrounded the bus, several of them climbed on its side while the medical teams brought the ambulances closer and got ready for the evacuation. Natsu's heart hammered in his chest when the firemen received the signal and started cutting large openings around the broken windows. Three or four of them entered the bus and the real wait started.

Soon enough, their colleagues started to hand them stretchers, oxygen bottles and medical equipment. The first person to be evacuated was an old man with some kind of metal pole stuck in his stomach. An old lady, probably his wife, ran to him and cried as she held his hand. Natsu doubted he would survive. After the old man, Natsu saw nearly ten persons being pulled out of the bus by the firemen. Most of them had very serious injuries, but some of them weren't that badly injured. It took a long time to evacuate them and Natsu of course noticed that none of the victims that had been pulled out of the bus were dead. The corpses would be pulled out last and the commander prayed that he'd see Lucy get out before that.

While they were waiting, some of their friends joined them. Gray and Juvia were the first ones to arrive and Natsu even saw Ultear, Dan and a handful of other revolutionaries wearing hoods and other things to hide their faces. All hell broke loose when Loke got there with Cana and Gildarts, right after Gajeel and Levy. Loke looked terrified and literally jumped out of the car when he saw the bus. Erza managed to pull him back by the collar of his shirt when he ran by her, but his breathing was very laboured and his whole body shook. His skin was so pale it made Natsu's stomach churn in worry.

At some point during the evacuation, the rain stopped and was replaced by a cold wind that froze him to the bone. It was nothing compared to the cold he felt when the firemen pulled out a stretcher on which was lying a young, blonde woman with short hair. The commander felt Erza's hand grip his and heard her gasp. Loke froze and stopped breathing as he stared at the woman. She was lying on the stretcher and was covered with blood, one of her arms had been torn off.

"No way..."

"Don't jump to conclusions," Gray muttered while looking very worried himself.

Natsu felt so sick he thought he was going to throw up, his body started to shake and his stomach contracted so painfully he was sure he was going to cough up blood. He took a step forward, not even noticing he had started to move. His mind was a chaotic mess in which his inner, honest self was screaming in fear and despair. A stray tear ran down his cheek and he walked faster, softly calling her name. He didn't know if Erza or the others were following him, didn't even know if they really were still here or if the entire universe had disappeared. He was entirely focused on the blood in the blonde hair. When he was close enough to her, he stopped and frowned. Something was amiss.

"Natsu!" Mira called and he glanced at her over his shoulder. "This isn't her! Look at her left arm!"

He did just that and his eyes widened when he saw a large tattoo on her forearm. Two colourful fishes were dancing on the skin and around the arm. This wasn't Lucy. At the same moment, Mira started to laugh loudly and Erza pointed at the bus with a large smile on her face. When the commander looked back at the bus, he saw a fireman holding Lucy's arm and helping her down. She had a cut over her eye, bruises almost everywhere and was unable to move her left arm correctly. And yet, she was smiling brightly when she noticed her friends calling her name with tear filled eyes.

For a moment, the commander found himself unable to move at all. She was alive. It was everything he could think about, until her eyes found his. She sent him the most adorable smile he ever saw and his heart melted. Loke was the first to react and ran at full speed toward her, openly crying tears of joy when she welcomed his embrace with a heartwarming laugh. The girls got to her just as quickly and Lucy found herself surrounded by oversensitive idiots all trying to hug her. Natsu finally started walking and Mira dragged Erza and the others away from their blonde friend when she saw him, giving them some privacy. Lucy first smiled at him, but her eyes widened when she saw another tear run down the commander's cheek.

He felt like he was given the chance to welcome her like he should have when he had found her for the first time after the explosion, so he couldn't resist the urge to embrace her when he was close enough. He took her in his arms and buried his nose in the crook of her neck. She winced when he touched her injured arm, but certainly didn't push him away. Her right hand gripped the fabric of the back of his shirt and she relished the feel of his hands on her waist and neck. Natsu knew she could feel his body shake, but he knew she wouldn't look down on him for that. He didn't know if he was supposed to say something, he felt like he'd never find the words to tell her how fucking terrified he had been. He held her tighter when he still couldn't find the right words, hoping she'd never get away from him again if he was strong enough to hold her back.

"You're crushing me," she laughed.

"I know," he answered, "I'm doing it on purpose. I'm going to kill you for being so stupid."

This wasn't exactly what he had been meaning to say, but he figured it would do for now. They stayed like that for a moment, without talking, until a member of the medical staff came to check Lucy's condition. Ignoring her protests, he decided to have her go to the hospital and undergo more medical examinations. The whole gang obviously tagged along and after several hours of wait, Lucy got her results. Turned out she had a broken arm, three lightly cracked ribs, a sprained ankle and multiple bruises and cuts.

"You're lucky," the doctor smiled at her, "it could have been much worse. We'll apply a cast to your broken arm, give you adequate medicine and you'll be good to go."

As soon as the doctor left the room, Erza turned around to glare at Lucy.

"Alright, pick one," she said.

Lucy blinked and cocked her head to the side, slightly worried.

"Pick one what?"

Erza pointed at the others and went on.

"Natsu, Mira and I all want to hear your explanation," she said. "But none of us have the confidence to stay calm while listening to you, so chose the one you want to scold you."

"Oh..." Lucy hesitated, "um..."

Before she could say anything, though, someone suddenly entered the room. Even under the long black cloak and the scarf partially hiding her face, Natsu recognized Ultear. Lucy did too, if her stunned look was anything to go by. What in the world was she doing here? They were soldiers everywhere, and not all of them were on their side.

"Get out," she ordered, "we need to talk."

Erza usually being the one to order others around was the first to protest.

"Wait, that's something we easily can..."

Ultear glanced at her over her shoulder and answered calmly.

"This little girl almost got herself killed tonight," she said. "I heard from the others that something like that happened before too. You all are too soft on her, it's time that someone clearly explains things to her."

Angry at Ultear for underestimating them and butting in, Natsu took a step forward.

"We don't need you to deal with this," he groaned. "She's our friend, we can..."

"Exactly," Ultear interrupted him. "She's your friend and not only that from what I heard. This is exactly why you won't have the balls to say what she has to hear. Next time something like that happens, she'll die for sure."

After a silent battle Ultear had with Erza and Natsu, Lucy's friends reluctantly agreed to get out of the room. Ultear was a bit rough, but she was right. Lucy had to change and talk to them more. If she kept doing things like that on her own, she really would die sooner or later.

They heard no scream from the room, no alarming sound. It didn't even take Ultear five minutes to open the door and get out. She nodded at them and left without telling them anything about what had been said in that room. Natsu was the first to go back inside and he frowned when he saw his blonde friend sitting on the bed. She hadn't cried, she didn't look sad or defeated, but the look in here eyes and her attitude were different.

"Are you ok?"

When she lifted her eyes to meet his, Natsu felt his heart beat harder. She had never been weak, but it was the first time Natsu witnessed such determination in her eyes. She suddenly looked a bit older, a lot more mature. He'd never know what Ultear had told her on that night, but it changed her and greatly impacted their future.

* * *

oOo

* * *

 _Lucy opened her eyes and winced in pain as soon as she did. She was so tired, so weak. What was happening? Everything around her seemed to be upside down and cloaked in darkness. A few more seconds passed as she progressively came back to her senses. She started hearing cries of pain, whimpering, sobs and whining. Lucy frowned when she realized she was lying on a hard surface and tried to stand up. When she did, her arm suffered terribly and she fell back down with a moan of pain. A large metal beam had fallen on her and her arm was stuck underneath. In front of her eyes, a little girl's body was facing the broken window above them. The rain was washing the blood off her face, as if the sky itself was grieving her death._

* * *

When the sun rose the next morning, Lucy was back to the room she shared with the commander. The Academy was quiet and peaceful, just like it always was at this hour of the day. Lucy yawned and stretched in her bed, which was a bit difficult to do with her new cast on. She scratched her head and rubbed her eyes, distractedly looking around the room. The commander had been out all night long, explaining things to the general.

When they got back from the hospital, Lucy spent about an hour in the general's office, explaining herself. Of course, she got scolded and sent to her room like a six year old child, but Makarov still sent a squad to make sure that her adoptive mother was fine. The scolding she received from Makarov was nothing to the one she received from Ultear, though. Even now, she could still hear her harsh words. What really was unsettling was that everything she said was the truth.

 _"If you hadn't boarded the bus, all these people would have been spared. Start behaving like an adult, you irresponsible brat!"_

Lucy knew that. She knew she'd have to live the rest of her life with the weight of her mistake on her shoulders. Now, she had a mission to carry in order to atone for her terrible mistake. It would be an insult to everyone who had been involved in the accident if she were to let Kyoka get away with it.

She stood up from bed and took her things to the bathroom. She had to get ready and find Natsu and the others. She knew that the commander had caught the driver of the truck and she also knew that he managed to have him talk, but that was about it. She had no substantial information about this and was determined to change that.

Unfortunately, washing and getting ready with a cast on the arm was far more difficult than Lucy had expected. It took her a freaking long time to put her stupid bandage on. When she finally got out of her room, she found Loke grinning at her. He escorted her to the Arena while making rude jokes and teasing her.

None of them could have known that the following day, they would see a close friend openly side with the enemy, the general would officially become a traitor and a man in particular would do something that would trigger the civil war.

* * *

 **End of chapter 24**

Hello friends! Once again, I'm hella late, haha! You probably hate me by now, but since I'm about to bring some very good stuff in the story, you'll forgive me!

So yeah, the next chapter will be the last of the first part, meaning that some shocking things will happen.

As usual, don't hesitate to tell me what you've thought of the chapter. While I'm at it, I'd like to thank all of you who took the time to leave a review. I'll try to answer them all as soon as I can!

Reminder: I only post the previews and the news about the stories on my Tumblr blog: hungrypeanut.

Note: I already said it on Tumblr, my favorite author wrote a book intitled La Passe-Miroir: Les Fiancés de l'Hiver. Well, awesome news for those of you who can't read French, it's going to be translated in English! It will be intitled A Winter's Promise: The Mirror Visitor and you definitely should check it out!

Questions/Answers

Q (from ): its just part one that's ending?

A: Yup. Don't worry, the story goes on in the second part!

Q (from Vilchen): Do. Not. Make. Loke. The. Traitor. Don't think I haven't noticed how absent he's been lately... o-0. I'll never forgive you if kill the light of this fanfiction; I'll gather up an army of fan girls if I have to!

A: It's not really a question, but it's funny so I'll answer here. No, Loke is not the traitor, don't worry!

Q (from CodenameMise): Will you be able to post more frequently in the summer?

A: I'll try, but I'm a lazy bastard.

Q (from absterclaire): I don't know if I missed something but a bit confused about Rogue's sexual orientation from earlier chapters where it was mentioned?

A: It was implied more than clearly mentioned since I didn't want it to be something exceptional or anything. It's just the way he is, it felt more natural to have it that way than have him gather everybody to come out. If my answer isn't clear enough yo can send me a PM and I'll try to give you a better answer!

This it for now! Chapter 25 will be out way faster than this one!

Might as well warn you now, the second part will have lemons!


	25. Chapter 25: Civil War

**PART I – Resolution**

Chapter XXV – Civil War

* * *

 **IMPORTANT NEWS** : You may or may not have heard of this, but the European Parliament will have a session on the 4th of July to support or oppose the project of law concerning copyrights. Long story short, they want to control and censor ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING European people want to post online. Our posts will be compared with the models of their ridiculously huge database and censored if it matches with one of them. Meaning we also won't be able to see these posts anymore… If it happens, we'll be isolated from the rest of the world and deprived of our freedom to express ourselves and create (farewell fanarts, fanfictions and such). Unfortunately, a lot of European writers will be forced to stop writing fanfictions as they won't be allowed to post them anymore, myself including.

Nothing's done yet and we still can try to stop this. You only have to sign the petition on this site: " **saveyourinternet . eu** "

I know this seems impossible, but the threat is real and **we have to act!**

* * *

" _I can believe things that are true and things that aren't true and I can believe things where nobody knows if they're true or not._

 _I can believe in Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny and the Beatles and Marilyn Monroe and Elvis and Mister Ed. Listen - I believe that people are perfectable, that knowledge is infinite, that the world is run by secret banking cartels and is visited by aliens on a regular basis, nice ones that look like wrinkled lemurs and bad ones who mutilate cattle and want our water and our women._

 _I believe that the future sucks and I believe that the future rocks and I believe that one day White Buffalo Woman is going to come back and kick everyone's ass. I believe that all men are just overgrown boys with deep problems communicating and that the decline in good sex in America is coincident with the decline in drive-in movie theaters from state to state._

 _I believe that all politicians are unprincipled crooks and I still believe that they are better than the alternative. I believe that California is going to sink into the sea when the big one comes, while Florida is going to dissolve into madness and alligators and toxic waste._

 _I believe that antibacterial soap is destroying our resistance to dirt and disease so that one day we'll all be wiped out by the common cold like martians in War of the Worlds._

 _I believe that the greatest poets of the last century were Edith Sitwell and Don Marquis, that jade is dried dragon sperm, and that thousands of years ago in a former life I was a one-armed Siberian shaman._

 _I believe that mankind's destiny lies in the stars. I believe that candy really did taste better when I was a kid, that it's aerodynamically impossible for a bumble bee to fly, that light is a wave and a particle, that there's a cat in a box somewhere who's alive and dead at the same time (although if they don't ever open the box to feed it it'll eventually just be two different kinds of dead), and that there are stars in the universe billions of years older than the universe itself._

 _I believe in a personal god who cares about me and worries and oversees everything I do. I believe in an impersonal god who set the universe in motion and went off to hang with her girlfriends and doesn't even know that I'm alive. I believe in an empty and godless universe of causal chaos, background noise, and sheer blind luck._

 _I believe that anyone who says sex is overrated just hasn't done it properly. I believe that anyone who claims to know what's going on will lie about the little things too._

 _I believe in absolute honesty and sensible social lies. I believe in a woman's right to choose, a baby's right to live, that while all human life is sacred there's nothing wrong with the death penalty if you can trust the legal system implicitly, and that no one but a moron would ever trust the legal system._

 _I believe that life is a game, that life is a cruel joke, and that life is what happens when you're alive and that you might as well lie back and enjoy it."_  
 _― Neil Gaiman, American Gods_

* * *

All of a sudden, friends and families got torn apart, people who were supposed to be trustworthy betrayed their friends and loved ones, people who were believed to be invincible collapsed under the weight of the disaster. It happened very quickly too. There was no official announcement made, no representative, no messenger. And what triggered it all was even more unexpected. Something that was supposed to be absolutely impossible happened and terrified a specific group of people. As soon as the news reached the Academy, they knew that the war had started.

* * *

 _13 hours earlier_

* * *

"You look terrible," Loke smiled when Lucy opened the door.

She smirked and lightly punched his shoulder.

"Look who's talking," she retorted, "you look like you haven't slept in ages. Since when do you have those huge dark circles?"

He sent her an accusatory look and pointed at her cast.

"Maybe since one of my friends decided to try out as many ways to die as possible."

He was angry. Of course, he was angry. Even Lucy was angry at herself. When she came to the Academy, she was a scared little girl with huge trust issues and almost no will to live on. The only thing she had back then was her thirst for revenge. Little by little, though, the people she met here and the ones she was reunited with managed to change her. But as she started to feel safe with them, especially around Natsu, she also started to become careless.

"It won't happen again," she promised. "From now on, I swear I'll be someone you can trust and rely on."

Loke stopped and gently grabbed her uninjured arm to make her turn around and face him.

"I already trust you with my life," he assured. "It never changed and it never will."

He looked so solemn that it made Lucy remember that even if Loke's past mostly remained a mystery, he was a man who had been through a lot too. He knew how precious a life was and probably understood how Lucy felt at the moment. She smiled sadly, wondering if there would come a time when he felt safe enough to tell her about him.

"I know," she lightly squeezed his hand to thank him.

He smiled back, kissed her forehead and resumed walking.

"Oh yeah," he snapped his fingers, "do you know what happened to Mira? I was coming back to my room last night and..."

"Coming back from where?"

"From the room of a nurse that needed my help to take something bothersome off," he answered naturally.

"Take what off?"

"Her clothes. Anyway, I saw Mira crying as she walked out of the general's building."

Now, this surprised Lucy. Mira was crying last night? Why? She had been overjoyed when Lucy got out of the bus and her mood only got better when she heard that she wasn't suffering from any serious injury. It was true that Mira stayed with the other officers in Makarov's office after Lucy left to go to sleep, but the others all looked normal.

"I don't know," Lucy admitted, "but I'll definitely ask her about it."

A long moment passed in silence and Loke started to feel uncomfortable.

"So," he went on, "I heard from the others that there would only be one less fight this morning since Bacchus wins by default. Too bad, I'm sure you'd have kicked his ass. The draw for the afternoon have been displayed, by the way."

"I'm not so sure about that," Lucy laughed. "Bacchus is strong and he hates me."

"Nah, he doesn't," Loke countered. "He's just an idiot."

"If you say so... So, what about this afternoon's fights?"

A bright smile illuminated his face and he unconsciously started to walk faster, dragging Lucy by her hand.

"Oh, right! We're gonna have some impressive battles today! You already know about Jellal going against Gajeel and Clive against Gray, right? After that, there will be a two hour break and the first fight of the afternoon will be Zancrow versus Sting. It will be interesting, but the really big show comes right after Sting's fight: the commander will face Doriate! You know, the huge guy always wearing a weird scarf?"

Doriate was a huge second year that didn't talk much and wasn't really close to anybody. He did look like he was on pretty good terms with Bakel, though. He'd be no match for the commander.

"And the last fight will be Elfman's," Loke went on. "He's going against a weird guy named Kain, it'll be a piece of cake."

Lucy didn't know this Kain guy, but she figured Loke knew what he was talking about. If he said Elfman would win his fight easily, he probably would.

They kept talking about the fights and the participants as they walked toward the Arena. The weather was good and Lucy's wounds weren't really painful anymore. They were reaching the field when they heard a voice calling for Lucy. Makarov was running toward her while waving his hand with a big smile. He coughed his lungs out when he got to her, though.

"I'm glad... to see you," he was out of breath, but still looked overjoyed. "I had some... something to tell you... ha... sorry about this... I'm too old to go running around..."

"It's fine," Lucy smiled patiently. "We still have about twenty minutes before the first fight. Take your time, we don't want you to have a heart attack."

The old general glared at her and Lucy supposed he was trying to look menacing, but he was obviously amused.

"It won't take me that long... damn brat. As I was saying, you know we sent a team to your mom's location. Well, things didn't exactly go as planned, but..."

Makarov didn't really look worried, but the words he used didn't sound very reassuring either. Lucy was starting to wonder if the old man was teasing her as payback for making fun of him...

"Did something happen to her?" she asked. "Did they find her?"

Makarov scratched the back of his head with a silly smile and laughed.

"Well, it'd be more accurate to say that she was the one who found them," he said. "She managed to neutralize them all and it took quite a while before they managed to convince her that they weren't bad guys."

Lucy massaged the bridge of her nose with her right hand and sighed.

"I'm sorry about that, I should have warned you..."

The small general laughed wholeheartedly at that and patted the young woman's butt since he couldn't reach her shoulder.

"Don't worry, don't worry!"

"Hey," Loke interrupted, "I'll tell the commander about that."

"I don't know what you're talking about," the general whistled. "Anyway, your mom already knocked out three guys who came for her last night. My team's bringing them back and we'll interrogate them here. Your mom refused to come with us, though."

"Well," Lucy smiled, "that's not really surpri..."

"Hey guys!" Gray appeared at the corner of the path behind the Arena and waved at them. "They're gonna start soon, come on!"

The conversation ended right there since even Makarov also wanted to see the fights. Everyone knew Jellal was actually a fearsome fighter, he just rarely got serious. Everyone was excited, save for Gajeel maybe.

Makarov took his seat in the front gallery since he was the head of the Academy and Lucy was allowed to go wait with the other participants even though she couldn't fight anymore. The commander was still there when she arrived with Loke. He was dressed in simple military pants and a tight black tank top that showed just how well built he was. The participants had each been given a proper protective gear, but the commander apparently wanted to show off. He was in the middle of a conversation with Gajeel when he saw her and just casually walked away from his still talking friend. Ignoring Gajeel's threats and insults, he came to stand in front of Lucy and smiled at her with a confident attitude she couldn't help but find sexy.

"Aren't we looking lively for someone who almost died a few hours ago?" he smiled, obviously still resenting her for her stupid actions of the night before.

"Luckily, I'm tougher than I look," she smiled timidly. "And I have awesome friends, it helped a lot to have them with me."

The commander chortled and shook his head with a sigh.

"You can't say something like that, it's cheating." She laughed at this and he shrugged. "Well, at least let me write something on your cast."

He wrote ''Blockhead'' on the cast.

* * *

oOo

* * *

"Alright, will the fighters please enter the ring?" the presenter asked with a strangely shrill voice.

Jellal and Gajeel both appeared on each side of the Arena, triggering loud applause from the stands. They were both dressed in their combat uniform, just like every other participant save for the commander. Even from her spot several meters above the fighting ring Lucy could see that Gajeel looked very nervous. Maybe she should go sit with Levy in case her small friend needed comfort after Gajeel's defeat? Should she feel guilty about the fact that she was convinced that Jellal would beat Gajeel?

"Look at him," Gray snickered, "that idiot's so tense he won't be able to throw a decent punch."

"You wouldn't look any better if you were in his shoes," Natsu retorted.

Gray grimaced at this.

"What the hell are you talking about?" he growled. "I'm going against Clive right after this..."

Right, poor Gray would be defeated on his first day too...

"Now, ladies and gentlemen," the presenter went on with his annoyingly high-pitched voice. "Our referee had to go back home because of a personal matter. So, please, welcome our new referee, mister Nad!"

A young man with dark red hair then entered the ring as well, waving at the spectators. He was tall and looked pretty strong, Lucy could see that his body was quite muscular despite the referee tunic he was wearing. When he turned around to wave at the spectators around the participants, his eyes met hers and time froze. No way... A bright smile lightened his face and he started jumping on the spot, madly waving at her.

"Lulu!" he yelled like an over enthusiastic kid. "Lulu, it's me! I'm here!"

Dan... Lucy hid her face behind her uninjured hand as she started admiring the floor of the balcony. What in the world was that dumb man doing here? From the seat next to her, Lucy heard a deeply displeased groan.

"Did that dumbass switch two letters of his name to come here?" the commander sighed.

Since Dan wouldn't stop jumping and waving at her with his signature childish smile, the spectators started laughing and searching for that ''Lulu person'' he was shouting to. Shit, it was getting dangerous, her friends were supposed to be the only ones to know about her being a girl...

"Hey, referee," the presenter shouted, "stop being a moron and do your job properly, you goddamn bastard!"

Lucy sighed... Seriously, what was wrong with this weird academy?

It took several more minutes, but Dan did end up focusing on the fight. Surprisingly, Gajeel landed the first blow and Jellal received a powerful punch to the stomach. He didn't give his opponent any time to recover and threw a kick to his side and another punch to his jaw. Lucy's eyes widened when Jellal's knee actually touched the ground. Was Gajeel actually stronger than a man able to fight on par with the commander? Her friend didn't get carried away in the slightest and stayed entirely focused on his opponent, never giving him a chance to counter attack. He punched him, kicked him, cornered him. Soon enough, though, Lucy and her friends realized that Gajeel wasn't hitting Jellal with all his strength. The young man only hit specific spots and used a lot of technical moves to destabilize his opponent, but he was doing his best not to hurt him. Lucy frowned. With this level of attacks, Jellal should have been able to block him.

"Guess he wasn't ready for that," the commander sighed beside her.

"What do you mean?"

"Just look."

Just a moment later, Jellal dodged Gajeel's blow and stood back up. He rubbed his bruised jaw and massaged the back of his neck.

"You're really good," he told Gajeel, "I'm impressed. I hope we'll get to spar again in the future." As he said all that, Gajeel jumped forward to land a new, more powerful punch. "The only thing is," Jellal went on, "you're too kind."

One punch was all it took him to knock Gajeel out. But what a freaking monstrous punch was it! Taking advantage of Gajeel's speed and lack of balance, Jellal slightly slid to the side, lifted his clenched fist and brought it down with terrific strength. There was no way a normal human being could have taken such a blow to the head and still stand. Dan immediately jumped into action to stop the fight, but Jellal obviously didn't intend to do anything more than that. Gajeel was unconscious, the fight was over.

"Did he really have to go that far?" Lucy grumbled, not understanding the need to hit a friend that hard.

"He was right," Natsu retorted. "Gajeel's too kind when he fights. He can't keep it up if he wants to survive what's to come. He won't be able to protect anybody if he can't bring himself to fight seriously. It was a harsh lesson, but he had to receive it."

"Boys are brutes," the young woman said without much conviction.

The commander chortled and nodded, stepping away from the railing.

"You're right," he agreed. "Come on, let's go to the infirmary."

Jellal was walking out of the infirmary when they got there and it didn't look like the two men were on bad terms, so Lucy figured they had talked about what being a man that solves everything with his fists meant and that they were still comrades. Gajeel barked at them when they entered the room, told them there was no way he'd really be hurt from a single punch and threatened to break their legs if they didn't go back to the Arena.

"I want one of you to tell me how the playboy's fight against Clive went," he smirked, obviously already knowing how this fight was going to end.

Still, they obeyed and walked back to the balcony. On their way there, they met Loke in a corridor. The man had a huge smile plastered on his face and it usually meant he was up to something.

"Gramps told me I was allowed to watch the fights from the participants' balcony," he declared, looking very pleased.

"Why?"

Loke sent the commander a very mischievous look before putting his arm around Lucy's shoulder.

"Because he knows that we love each other too much to be separated even a little," he answered. "It's already hard enough for us not to share the same room anymore!"

The commander rolled his eyes, but didn't say or do anything else. He seemed to be much more patient with Loke lately.

"Alright, if you say so," he shrugged. "Let's go back, then."

As soon as they got back, Lucy saw Dan's smile widen as the man started to jump and wave at her once more. This time she couldn't help smiling back, he looked like a cute puppy. The commander obviously saw that and immediately frowned at her.

"What? Come on, don't tell me this is your type of man..."

Lucy arched a brow at him and smirked as she was given a perfect opportunity to tease the commander, but Loke beat her to it.

"Aw, look at this," he laughed, "the commander's jealous."

"Hell no..."

Lucy silently thanked God or whoever it was that allowed Loke to be here with them at the moment, because he was doing a very good job.

"Man, you don't sound convin..."

"Shut up, the fight's gonna start."

It did start soon after that: Gray sent a powerful punch that Clive stopped with one hand. The lieutenant-colonel then bent forward and whispered something in his ear. Gray hesitated, so Clive took his stance. This wasn't even close to the stance the commander had taught them, though. His feet were farther away from each other, his arms weren't in the best position to guard his body and only his right hand was balled into a fist. They hadn't been trained to fight against someone using this type of martial arts. Still, Gray attacked again. In the very next second, he was lying on the ground with Clive's feet on his throat. Dan ordered him to back away and Clive did, but not before giving Gray the only warning he'd get.

"Don't get up."

The crowd of spectators cheered for Gray, he wasn't injured enough to lose yet. Lucy was sure that he was still able to fight. But Gray stayed down and waited for Dan to count to ten. The only explanation he gave his friends after that was: ''He's a monster''.

Everyone obviously used the two hour break to get something to eat and talk about the fights that ended and the ones that were still to come. Dan joined them as if it was totally normal for him to be there and told them that Ultear was the one that ordered him to come since she wanted someone to keep an eye on things during the Tournament and his face was completely unknown of the Octagon. Beside Dan, Erza, Levy, Cana and Mira joined the boys and Lucy to eat. Lucy kept observing Mira while they were talking, but the colonel didn't look like she had cried recently and she was behaving normally.

At some point during their meal, Lucy saw Natsu tense and glare at something behind her. A second later, a large hand landed on her shoulder and Bacchus sat beside her. He told her he was sorry about her arm and said he would have liked to face her to see who was the strongest. He also apologized for his behavior and admitted that he had been an ass, to quote him.

"I know you're a good guy," he smiled at her, then looked at Cana with very serious eyes. "I needed someone to wake me up and you did."

That being said, he stood up and took Cana's hand to go God knew where. Juvia actually dared ask if they should follow her since she was worried about Cana, but Mira gladly explained her that it wouldn't be necessary.

"Dude, you shouldn't eat that," Loke told Sting as the latter was putting a weird pink thing in his mouth, "it looks and smells like rotten fish..."

"Don't worry," Sting retorted with a large, confident smile, "it's gonna reinforce my strength and endurance!"

"But what is it made of?" Erza asked.

It was funny how seeing that even the doctor was worried didn't stop Sting from swallowing the thing.

"I'm not sure," he grinned, "but it tastes horrible!"

"I think someone's trying to poison you..." his brother stated.

His idiot brother laughed and patted his shoulder.

"No way! What are ya..." he frowned and everyone could see that his face started to turn green. "Damn..."

He ran to the toilets and Rogue sighed before getting up with Erza to go take care of him. As Lucy's friend laughed at Sting, the young woman caught a glimpse of a large body with white hair walking toward the Arena. She waved at him when she recognized him.

"Hey Elfman! Wanna eat with us?"

He froze when he heard her call his name and tried to nod, smile and wave at the same time before declining her offer.

"Sorry, Lisanna's waiting for me," he said before running off.

Lucy frowned, but Gray and Loke had fortunately seen that too and were just as confused as she was. They asked Mira about it, but she gulped, shrugged and told them that he was nervous about his upcoming fight. Their obviously doubtful looks made Mira understand that they were going to question her more, so she ran away as well.

"What's wrong, captain?" Dan laughed at Natsu before putting his arm around his shoulders as if they were best friends, which obviously displeased the commander. "You look scary when you frown at people like that!"

"I'm not a captain," he retorted, shrugging Dan's arm off him. "And mind your own business."

"So cold," Dan laughed, "I'm lucky Lucy's nicer! Oh, sorry, I just used her real name... But you guys already knew, right? I totally forgot that her being a girl's supposed to be a secret! Oh wait, I shouldn't say things like that out loud, right? But really, who would have thought..."

The commander grabbed him by the collar of his shirt before he could endanger Lucy anymore than he already had.

"Listen here, you moron," he growled. "If you say one more word, I'll strangle you."

"Roger," Dan laughed.

Lucy sighed and decided that she needed a moment of quiet before going back to the Arena. She stood up and told her friends she'd join them later.

"I'll go check on Erza and Sting," she explained as she walked away.

Dan and the others looked at her in silence for about two minutes before the former frowned at the commander.

"She ran away because of you," he grumbled.

"It totally was your fault," the commander retorted.

"She was afraid because you're such a violent man, captain."

Natsu did end up trying to strangle Dan, which resulted in a huge brawl with the other participants and recruits around them.

Lucy sighed when she entered the medical wing and was met with nothing but silence. She had forgotten just how nice it felt to be alone in a quiet place. She climbed the stairs to Erza's office and knocked when she got there. The redhead opened the door for her and Lucy couldn't help noticing how agitated she looked.

"What's wrong?" Lucy asked. "Is Sting going to die?"

Erza frowned.

"What? No, he'll be fine. I made him throw that thing up and gave him a medicine. He'll be entirely back to normal in less than half an hour."

"Well, that's good?" Lucy hesitated. "You look like you're having a heart attack."

Suddenly, for the first time since she met her, Lucy saw tears appear in the corner of her friend's eyes. Erza shook her head and turned around to hide her face from Lucy. The young woman obviously didn't let her and came to stand right in front of the doctor, taking her right hand in hers. She wished she could take both, but she just had to go and break her arm... Her friend being the tough woman she knew too well refused to burst into tears, but just seeing her watery eyes and her scared expression broke Lucy's heart.

"What's wrong, Erza?" she asked, starting to panic. "You're scaring me..."

"I... I don't know what I should do..."

Lucy managed to have Erza sit down and waited for her to be calm enough to explain what was wrong. At first, the only words she could make out were ''Jellal'' and ''can't''. It took about ten minutes, but Erza did manage to calm down and eventually told Lucy about what was going on. When she stopped talking, Lucy was so shocked she didn't know if she wanted to cry, laugh, hug Erza or hit somebody.

"He can't go," Lucy agreed. "Things have changed, Ultear will understand."

Erza smiled sadly and shook her head.

"This isn't how things work," she retorted weakly. "Especially at war."

Lucy wanted to tell her that she was wrong and she'd do something about it. She wanted to tell her that everything would be fine and she didn't need to worry, but she knew things weren't that easy. She had no idea how things would unfold now that Erza was in that situation, but one thing was for sure and that was that Lucy would be there for her, no matter what. It was the only thing she could promise, so she did. Erza smiled at her, but the door opened before she could say anything.

"The presenter just said that the order of the fights had been changed since Sting was out for now," Gray said. "Natsu's going first, his fight will start soon. Wait, what's wrong?"

"Nothing," Lucy immediately answered, "girls stuff. We'll be there in a second, thanks for telling us."

"You're welcome..."

Still looking pretty worried, Gray did walk out of the office and closed the door behind him. Erza wiped the very few tears she had allowed to run down her cheeks and stood up. She washed her face before leaving the office and when the girls reached the Arena, no one could have guessed that Erza had cried.

The commander was still there when she arrived with Erza and he was still dressed with his simple military pants and tank top that would protect him from absolutely nothing. Lucy figured he was on his way to the ring when they got there because her friends were waving at him and wishing good luck, but he stopped when he saw her.

"You ran here when you heard I was going first?" he smirked.

"You wish," she retorted. "I'm here to laugh at you when you lose."

The commander nodded and, still smirking, bent down so he could talk with a lower voice and be heard only by her.

"And if I win?" he asked. "Will you reward me?"

Lucy blushed madly and she inwardly cursed herself because she knew perfectly well that it was exactly what the commander wanted to see. He smirked even more when he saw her reaction, but she didn't get a chance to answer since the first fight was about to start.

"Number 8 and number 10, please come to the fighting area."

"I can't believe that bastard dared say such a bold thing," Loke said with a huge smile on his face.

Well, it wasn't the first time he was teasing her like that, it just seemed to happen more frequently. Lucy smiled when the commander finally entered the ring and turned around to wave at them, what a weird change in character in such a short time. Too focused on the fighters shaking hands in the ring, Lucy missed Loke's sad smile as well as Elfman's absence.

When Dan started the fight, Doriate jumped backwards to get away from the commander. Lucy figured he wanted to stay away from him until he found an opening in the commander's guard. His opponent obviously didn't give him any time to form a strategy and ran after him, never letting his guard down. Lucy was surprised at how careful Doriate was, she was sure he'd be a brute with shit for brains. The commander's first hits didn't land at all, Doriate parried them all and continued observing his opponent.

Finally seeing an opening, Doriate gave the commander a powerful kick that hit his side. Ignoring the shocked whispers of the crowd and the outraged cries of Natsu's friends from the balcony, Doriate smirked and jumped on the occasion to finish the commander off. He threw a punch to his jaw, another one to his stomach, a second kick to the same side...

"What the hell are you doing, Natsu!?" Gray yelled.

Lucy understood where he was coming from, this wasn't going the way everyone had expected it to go. Doriate was a tall guy with a strong body and great fighting abilities, but the commander was so much better than him. What was he doing taking all these blows? Lucy didn't know where this impulse came from, but it was so sudden and unexpected that she only realized what she was doing the moment she did it. The moment the commander's knee touched the ground, she clutched the railing and took a deep breath in to make sure her voice would reach him.

"Natsu!" she yelled. "You're losing the bet!"

Even from where she stood, she managed to catch the smug smirk that suddenly appeared on the commander's lips. Doriate threw another powerful punch, but the commander caught this one as if he had been up against a young child. Keeping Doriate's fist in his clenched hand, the commander slowly stood back up. As he rose, his grip on his opponent's fist grew stronger and Doriate soon found himself kneeling and desperately scratching at Natsu's hand to free it. When it was clear for everyone who was dominating who in this fight, the commander clenched his fist and lifted it above Doriate's face.

"Give up," he ordered.

Doriate knew very well this was the only chance he'd get, it didn't even take him three seconds to make his decision.

"I give up!" he yelled. "I give up, stop the fight!"

Dan did just that, a dumbfounded look on his face. Almost everyone was confused at what had just happened. Lucy and Loke understood it perfectly well, though. The commander turned to face the balcony with a very smug smirk when the fight was officially over and mouthed for Lucy.

"Wait there, I'm coming for my reward."

"He played with Doriate to make it look like he was losing," Loke laughed, "and get you to say something stupid like you'd grant him the reward he asked for. Nice job, bastard."

Since Sting had entirely recovered from his food poisoning, which really impressed Lucy (just how tough was that boy?), the referee and the general agreed to let him fight right after the commander. He was walking toward the stairs when he saw the commander climb the last steps. The latter thanked Sting for his words of congratulation and wished him good luck for his fight, but the only one he really wanted to see was hiding behind a very amused Loke. Natsu patted his shoulder and lightly pushed him to the side, which Loke didn't resist at all, before grabbing the blonde's wrist and pulling her to him.

"We'll be right back," he said, dragging her out of the balcony.

The other participants stared at them with very confused eyes until Gray silently interrogated Loke, the latter smiling even more.

"You really want me to tell you?" he asked Gray.

"… No, thanks."

"Very well, if you insist the... wait, no? What do you mean ''no''? Get back here, I wanna tell somebody!"

* * *

oOo

* * *

"Um..." Lucy gulped nervously, "we're going to miss Sting's fight."

"He'll win," Natsu assured. "More importantly, you sure took your sweet time before encouraging me. I was being beaten pretty badly, you know?"

"Oh please," she scoffed, "you were faking it all."

The commander's smirk widened at this and he didn't even bother denying it. After they had left the balcony, Natsu had dragged her down the stairs and along several corridors until he had opened a door and pulled her inside behind him. They now were in what appeared to be a small storage room for training material.

"Whatever," he retorted, "a bet's a bet and you lost it."

"I never officially agreed to it..." the young woman tried to protest, knowing perfectly well that she was screwed.

Though, if she was to admit the truth, she was thrilled with this situation. Who wouldn't be in her place? Natsu himself had to know how she felt about him, the fact that he was behaving like that with her had to mean that he didn't mind it, right?

"You're not getting out of this one," he warned, his smug smile still in place. "Now, how about you give me my reward?"

The young woman gulped and did her best to try to hide that she really liked where this was going. It had only been several months since she had entered the academy, but it had been more than enough time to realize that the commander wasn't the kind boy she had met so many years before anymore. He was still kind, even though he didn't want it to be obvious, but he was no little boy anymore. And she was no little girl anymore either.

"Fine," she smiled back. "I get to choose what kind of reward I give, right?"

The commander's smirk finally disappeared as the look in his eyes turned more intense. Lucy couldn't feel an ounce of hostility in him, but she realized that they were done playing.

"No," he retorted. "I'll take it directly."

A hand on the wall by her head and the other cradling her face, his large hand enveloping both her cheek and neck, he leaned forward. For a second, Lucy was back in the club where they had danced together and almost kissed. Now, she knew that even back then the commander already knew who she was. The main difference was that the commander had hesitated at the time, not sure if he was allowed to go that far. He didn't hesitate at all this time. Lucy had imagined this moment so many times before that she had about a hundred different scenarios in mind. Obviously, the commander followed none of them. It wasn't the furious, heated kiss she fantasized about when taking hot, long showers, nor was it the delicate and sweet kiss she imagined after reading a love story.

He was gentle with her, but not the point one could call him delicate. The sudden press of his lips against hers only surprised her because even if she had been waiting for it, her mind hadn't expected it to happen in reality. The hand on the wall was quick to leave it so it could settle on her waist as the hand on her cheek slid to the back of her neck, fingertips sliding into her hair and his thumb caressing her jaw. The fingers of her only intact hand gripped the fabric of his shirt as she leaned up into the kiss, lips parting in surrender as he completely overwhelmed her.

Lucy had been waiting for this moment for so long that she soon started to fear the moment it would stop. Feeling the heat spread from her face to her entire body, she gripped his shirt tighter and pulled him closer, earning a satisfied groan from him. His own body was tense and burning hot under her hand, reacting with a shudder of pleasure to each of her caresses. He pulled away when he heard her whimper because of the pressure on her injured arm, but she immediately pulled him back to her.

Despite how close and intimate they were, they both realized that this kiss they were sharing, though delightful, was still far too innocent and wouldn't be enough to completely satisfy them. They were both growing restless and needy, both forgetting where they were and unconsciously ignoring the little voice of reason trying to warn them that things would become very complicated if they were to get caught.

Luckily, or not, a small group of people ran by the room they were hiding in while making a lot of noise. From what Lucy could understand, they were civilians that were here to watch the fights, meaning they had nothing to do in such a place. The commander straightened up and sighed as he glared at the door. He smiled at Lucy and gently brushed his thumb against her lower lip, debating whether he should enjoy his time with her for a bit longer or stop playing with fire.

Unfortunately for Lucy, he chose the latter.

"I'll go deal with them," he breathed. "Thanks for the reward."

Lucy's back immediately went to rest against the door and she slid down to the floor. It took her five full minutes to calm down enough to stand back up and her heart kept hammering in her chest even after that. Maybe she should reward him more frequently.

She was still trying to hide the small smile of satisfaction that refused to fade away when she joined the others to look at Sting's fight. Seeing their serious faces, though, she started to worry and her smile naturally disappeared. Even the commander was entirely focused on the fight and Lucy soon understood why. Sting and his opponent, Zancrow, were still standing, but they were both covered in wounds. Sting had blood all over his left eye and nasty bruises on his temple, hands and arms. Lucy didn't dare imagine what kind of wounds were hidden beneath his shirt... Zancrow was just as injured and was obviously struggling to keep standing up.

"They're incredible..." Gray breathed. "You should have seen that."

"Where have you guys been?" Gajeel asked. "You missed one hell of a fight."

Panting heavily, the two men glared at each other and analyzed each movement in wait of the right opportunity to attack.

"Yes," Juvia agreed, "it's been pretty intense till now."

Loke turned mischievous eyes to his friends and smirked.

"Guess everybody's fired up today."

Lastly, Zancrow heavily fell to his knees and admitted defeat. Sighing in relief and joy, Sting turned his back to his defeated enemy and waved at his friends with a bright smile. Most of them, including Lucy, waved back with a smile just as bright, but Natsu and Gray didn't.

"Idiot!" Gray yelled. "Look out!"

Sting was wounded and exhausted, it took him far more time than it should have to assimilate Gray's words and react to them. Behind him, Zancrow had jumped to his feet and was throwing a terrible punch aiming for Sting's head. Lucy couldn't believe he still had so much strength left despite being this wounded. Zancrow's fist collided heavily with Dan's hand. The referee had jumped in between the men to stop Zancrow's attack.

"No cheating," he smirked before crushing Zancrow's fist in his hand.

Sting won the fight and Zancrow won a trip to the hospital, Dan had broken several bones in his hand. Dan had to apologize for harming a recruit and he did so with a bright smile on his face, saying: ''Sorry, Gramps, I guess I can't control my amazing strength!''. He also ran to Lucy to ask if she had seen his heroic rescue of Sting and if she had fallen for him now that she knew how strong he was. Though he was being annoying, Lucy had to admit that he was quite an impressive man, indeed.

Elfman's fight ended much faster than anybody had expected. His opponent was no weakling, but he wasn't in the right state of mind for this. Well, to be honest, it was Elfman that wasn't in the right state of mind. Kain entered the ring with his hands in his pockets and a small, amused smile on his face. He was taking part in this to have some fun, nothing more. Elfman was dead serious.

Kain took several heavy punches from Elfman before understanding that this fight wouldn't be friendly. He tried to fight back, but Elfman took advantage of his lack of balance to get behind him and applied a neck crank to choke him. Kain struggled and tried to resist Elfman's hold, but ultimately had to give up.

When Dan officially ended the fight and Elfman was declared the winner, most of the crowd remained silent and only some faint clapping was heard. None of the participants applauded and instead frowned at the man who refused to look at anybody and walked out of the ring without showing any concern for his opponent. This definitely wasn't the Elfman they knew.

"What the hell was that?" Gray grumbled, reflecting everyone's thoughts.

It took over two hours for every civilian to leave the Academy and the commander disappeared with Mira right before the evacuation started. As they walked out of the Arena, Lucy and her friends noticed that the only officers left to oversee the evacuation of the civilians weren't high ranked. Even after every civilian had been escorted out of the academy, there was no sign of Erza, Natsu, Laxus, Mira or the other officers. Even Dan was nowhere to be found. Lucy and her friends got dinner much later than usual, but they weren't the only ones in that situation and the cook had been warned that this would happen a lot during the Tournament. Elfman was still nowhere to be found.

When they exited the refectory, Gray asked them all to gather in his room to have a small party. Everyone obviously agreed, including Lucy. The truth was that after the kiss she had shared with the commander in that storage room, she couldn't help but feel agitated the more she thought about finding him in their room tonight. They both were healthy young adults that were obviously very attracted to each other, it wouldn't be surprising if things got serious between them, right? Though her stupid cast would get in the way... Suddenly, as the recruits were all heading back to their rooms, a faint crackling sound could be heard through the whole campus and Lucy soon understood that the town's loudspeakers had been turned on. As the voice started to transmit the official message, the general alarm started to ring through the whole town.

"Your attention, please," the robotic female voice called. "Dangerous criminals have escaped from prison. The authorities are already taking care of this problem. Everyone is to stay at home with the door locked from the inside. Your attention, please. Dangerous criminals have esca..."

"Lucy!" someone yelled.

The moment she turned around, the general lighting system was shut off and the emergency lights were turned on. The commander grabbed her shoulders before gently taking her jaw in his hands.

"Don't leave my side," he ordered before grabbing her hand and turning to address the recruits that were still outside despite the very late hour. "Everybody, go back to the main building, right now!"

Natsu's serious eyes and voice made them all understand that he was dead serious, so everyone obeyed him and ran to the main building.

"What's happening?" Gajeel yelled as he ran beside Natsu.

"I'll tell you once everyone's inside," the commander promised. "Hurry up!"

Once inside, Lucy found herself surrounded by hundreds of confused recruits that were mostly drunk or exhausted. She was lucky that most of her friends were with her, but Mira and Erza were nowhere to be seen.

"Hey," Gray patted her shoulder. "Isn't that Erza?"

She turned around and saw her redhead friend walking toward her through the crowd. Lucy ignored the commander's protests and ran to her. It was dangerous for her to stand in the middle of such an agitated crowd.

"Erza," she hugged her friend with her only arm when she finally reached her. "Where's Jellal? What's happening?"

The doctor clenched her jaw and did her best not to let any emotion show on her face as she answered Lucy's question.

"Jellal's getting ready to leave," she said. "Ultear ordered him to go to Frego right away with Warrod and Kagura."

Lucy froze and opened wide, shocked eyes. What the hell was happening?

"Why?" she asked. "Did you tell him about _it_?"

Erza gulped and shook her head weakly.

"I couldn't tell him," she replied with a weak, trembling voice.

Like she had done earlier in the office, Lucy took her friend's hand and used her gentlest voice to talk to her.

"You have to tell him," she said, "it's his baby as well."

For a moment, the doctor didn't react in any way. Lucy wasn't sure if it was a good thing that she didn't look as fragile anymore, but she figured it was better if she wasn't crying. Finally, Erza sniffed and wiped her eyes even though there was no tear to wipe.

"You want me to ask him to choose between his family and his country?" she asked.

Startled, Lucy squeezed her friend's hand a bit tighter.

"What do you mean?"

Erza frowned when she realized that Lucy didn't know about the situation. Natsu was beside her in an instant and his warm hand comforted her the moment it gently settled on her shoulder.

"Luce, you really should let me talk before leaving on your own like that..."

She frowned when she noticed that his eyes matched the sad tone he had just used, but didn't have the time to interrogate him. All eyes suddenly turned to the top of the stairs where Makarov stood with Laxus and Clive. She had never seen them look so solemn before.

"I won't beat around the bush," Makarov said. "Half an hour ago, the Octagon sent a message to all the military institutions of the country stating that I'm officially a traitor."

Saying they were shocked wouldn't even begin to describe the state of mind of the recruits who were silently listening to the general's words. Still, nobody dared say a word.

"Most of the officers working here are already on my side," the general went on, "and will support me in this war against the Octagon. I won't force any of you to stay here, though. The only thing I can tell you is that I will keep loving you all like I would my own children no matter what you decide to do. I did things I believed to be the right things to do. I've always and always will fight for Justice and for the sake of my compatriots. I know it's hard to believe after everything you've been taught, but the Octagon is a criminal institution. Today, you have to make a choice as well, I hope you'll make the right one."

A long moment passed with the recruits animatedly talking among themselves. Natsu, still holding Lucy's hand, walked toward the stairs. Loke, Gray, Gajeel, Erza, Juvia, Cana, Levy, Sting, Rogue, Jet, Alzack, Bisca, every person Lucy had come to befriend during her time at the Academy followed them and went to stand by the stairs to show their support to the general. After that, almost every single recruit of the Academy started smirking proudly and went to stand in front of the stairs with their right hand on their heart as a sign of loyalty. Some recruits did walk out of the building, though, probably afraid of the consequences. The recruits that hesitated at first quickly joined their friends and with each of them that swore their loyalty to the general, Lucy could see new tears of happiness run down the old officer's cheeks.

"General!" Bob entered the room at full speed and sweating like crazy. "This is bad! Someone opened the first security gate! I sent three teams to secure the second and third gates!"

Makarov nodded at Bob, who didn't look like an old eccentric fool at all anymore.

"Good job, Bob," he said. "Who opened the door?"

Bob sent a sad look at Mirajane, who was now standing near Laxus.

"Elfman Strauss, sir."

A moment of silence that lasted a hundred years in Lucy's mind passed before the general sighed.

"I see..." he said, sounding and looking heartbroken.

"You're fucking kidding me," Gajeel breathed.

Elfman Strauss had betrayed them. Lucy noticed despite the shock that none of the officers looked surprised, only saddened. Then, Juvia's plan to unmask Kyoka's spy would have led them to Elfman... The blonde searched the crowd until she found Juvia.

"Elfman was the spy?" she asked, her voice trembling.

Juvia nodded, her voice refusing to come out, but her eyes saying how sorry she was. No freaking way... The commander squeezed her hand a bit tighter to comfort her when he noticed how down she looked, but it didn't work as much as it should have. Elfman was a member of ''the gang'', he was a close friend and had their unconditional love and trust. So why...

"I know that many of you loved that man dearly," the general said, "and there's no reason for you to stop loving him. Elfman's a good man, he must have his reasons..."

Though he said these words to everyone, it was obvious that they were really meant for Mira. Her own brother was openly siding with the enemy...

"I'm sure everyone's confused or scared," the general went on, "I understand that and I feel the same, I assure you. But I also know that you all are brave soldiers that trained under the best instructors ever. With your help, we will put a stop to the Octagon's schemes and free the prisoners that have unfairly been locked up."

"And we can start right away," Laxus went on for his grandfather. "While most of us will stay here and defend the Academy against the Octagon, we'll send two elite teams out for a rescue mission. With the help of the Rose's Tear, we're going to find and bring back the prisoners that escaped the Pandemonium. We absolutely have to find them before the Octagon does, because among them is a very important man."

"That's right," Gildarts confirmed. "The leader of the resistance movement, Jude Heartfilia."

* * *

 **End of Part I – Resolution**

Well, well, where to start? First and foremost, thank so very much to everyone who got this far with me. I received lots of kind reviews from adorable readers that never stopped supporting me even when I myself wasn't sure if I was doing good enough or not. With this 25th chapter, we've finished the first half of this story, meaning that everything coming from now on will be totally essential to the story and plot development.

I really wish I could write about everything you guys want me to write, I received lots of messages from readers saying they got really attached to the characters. I have to be honest with you, some of them will die. Some of them will have their past revealed and it won't be pretty. Some of them will lose so much they'll wish they had died. Of course, I won't only make them suffer! There will be moments of unconditional love, admirable loyalty and forever lasting friendship as well.

No matter what, I'll stay true to the spirit of the story and try to give you the most beautiful story I can write. After Dauntless is over, I'll try to do even better with The Last Valkyrie, it will be my personal challenge!

If we manage to stop the new law concerning the copyrights in the EU, I'll soon start posting a new story called Ouroboros' Mercy that will be the best story I've ever written. I can already assure you that it will be far better than Dauntless and The Last Valkyrie!

Alright, this is it for now. We'll meet again in Part II – Freedom!


	26. Chapter 26: Brotherhood

**PART II – Freedom**

Chapter I – Brotherhood

* * *

" _Not only had my brother disappeared, but-and bear with me here-a part of my very being had gone with him. Stories about us could, from them on, be told from only one perspective. Memories could be told but not shared."  
― John Corey Whaley, Where Things Come Back_

* * *

 _Six months after Jude's escape_

* * *

Lucy ran as fast as she could to get to the last wall standing, but the bomb exploded before she could reach it. It fortunately wasn't too close, so she only got propelled a few feet away by the blast. Many others weren't that lucky. The young woman gritted her teeth in an effort to hold back the whimper of pain that threatened to escape her lips, holding her arm against her chest. Around her, most buildings had collapsed in the ten minutes that followed the start of the bombing and the air was saturated with burning dust and the smell of blood. She couldn't hear the screams as clearly anymore, the sound of the detonations resonating in her head again and again.

Another bomb went off somewhere near her, and this time she was hit by debris. She groaned, rolled to the side and struggled to stand back up. Her arm injury was still healing, she needed to be more careful. Wailing in pain, she forced the burning muscles in her legs to work some more as she stood back up. She was covered in blood, but most of it didn't belong to her. She could hear screams and cries from everywhere around her, but had no way to know if they belonged to friends or enemies. She needed to find Natsu.

With that objective in mind, she raised her head and checked the area. Surprisingly, the old church was still standing and its steeple looked steady enough. Ignoring her wounds and her exhaustion, she ran to the doors. Four enemy soldiers were already there, but they wouldn't be a threat to her on anyone else anymore. A huge beam had fallen from the roof and their bodies had been crushed under its weight. She jumped over the beam and ran to the stairs, climbing them up as fast as humanly possible. She was already far beyond her limits, but she still couldn't allow herself to rest even for a moment.

When she finally found the highest window, she fell to her knees and shrugged off the rifle slung over her shoulder. Using the scope to evaluate the situation on the battlefield, she finally found Natsu. The commander was in a tough spot, trying to help their allies retreat. Saying that the commander was in a tough spot didn't even start describing how screwed up they actually were. Their forces had been dispersed and the enemy troops had surrounded them entirely. There was only one path left for them to run away, but the enemy had set a makeshift barrier to block it. That thing wasn't made of wood, but it looked similar. Straw bales! Where had they even found that? The farm near the church! Lucy frowned when she noticed that they were enemies on the other side of the barrier as well. They wanted Natsu and the others to climb over the bales so they could kill them easily!

A sudden movement caught her attention and she found an enemy discreetly approaching the commander, staying hidden behind burning cars. She adjusted her aim and shot, hitting the bullseye with almost no effort. She cleared the battlefield some more from her spot, all the while trying to think of a plan to help her friends retreat. It took her about five more minutes to remember that there was something on one of the bales on the other side of the barrier, out of her friends' reach. Something seemingly harmless, but that something could potentially allow Lucy to open a path for her comrades. A pretty big electric generator was providing electric power to several machines Lucy couldn't identify.

She took a deep breath in and slowly breathed out, calming her heart and adjusting her aim. She'd get one chance only and the target was almost impossible to hit. A straw bale had been placed behind the generator, but Lucy still could see a small part of the power cable. If she could damage that cable, it would produce a spark that'd immediately set fire to the bales. But the target looked microscopic from where she stood and she really wasn't sure if she could hit it.

Another bomb went off and Lucy gulped when she heard and recognized the bridge that collapsed. Erza and Ultear were supposed to be there, guarding the medical tent. Erza wasn't allowed to take part in the fights, but she insisted that they would need her as a doctor in case someone were to be badly wounded and one couldn't simply order her to do or not to do anything... All her friends would die if she missed the cable, but they might be able to escape if she could hit it. She prayed to God and to her mom, begging them to help her save them.

 _"Who the hell needs God_ ," her inner voice snorted, " _just kick some asses with your own abilities, bitch! We've got this, blow it all up!"_

She would have smirked had she been less focused on her target. That tiny spot even the best snipers of the world would fear to miss. Well, not all of them would. She had spent the last six months training under a sniper that would be thrilled to be in her place. There was no way she could go back to the base and tell Bisca that her lessons had been of no use.

Holding her breath, focusing entirely on the cable, she aimed. Somewhere in the back of her mind, an alarm went off as she heard footsteps on the stairs leading to her spot, but she ignored it. She wasn't a physical person anymore, she had no feeling, no sensation, nothing but this obsession. She was a sniper and had a target to hit, nothing else existed in the world. Nothing but the distance between her and the target, the strength and direction of the wind, the inclination of the axis of fire, the position of her hands on the rifle, of her arms and shoulders.

She shot and she knew shad had succeeded even before the fire started. She felt it in her very bones, it had been a perfect shot. That feeling was so delightful Lucy almost forgot about the battlefield and the bombing. A nervous hand fell on her shoulder and she fell back down to earth as she was turned around and found herself standing face to face with Levy. Her small friend was covered in wounds and looked terrified, but she was alive. The blunette looked out the window and her eyes widened considerably when she saw the fire.

"You did this?" she asked, her voice trembling with pain, exhaustion and fear.

Lucy nodded and her friend burst into tears before throwing her arms around her shoulders.

"Thank you," she cried, "thank you, Lucy... Thank you so much..."

Lucy hugged her back, wondering who the hell had allowed her delicate friend to accompany them for this raid. Right after the Octagon officially accused Makarov of high treason and they heard of Jude's escape, most of the recruits of the Academy sided with them, but a lot of them changed their minds when they realized how hard it was to be a criminal. As they watched the weaker recruits leave their side, Lucy and Levy were soon among the last females to fight for the resistance, which naturally brought them closer and closer as the weeks passed.

"Alright, let's get out of here," Lucy declared. "We have to help them retreat."

Lucy's diversion was even more effective than she had expected. Enemy soldiers were running around in search of any source of water that could be used to put out the fire, almost forgetting about the criminals they were supposed to subdue.

Taking advantage of the confusion, the officers of their group guided them toward a path Lucy had cleared on the side of the field. Levy ran as fast as she could to join them and get out of here, but Lucy's body finally reached its breaking point. She fell to her knees when her legs stopped functioning and an enemy soldier that was near her furiously kicked her back. She fell face first in a large puddle of mud and panicked when she realized that something was pressing on her back to prevent her from standing back up. She was in a world of pain, she was exhausted and she couldn't breath anymore.

Still, she fought like hell to get rid of the bastard that was trying to drown her in mud. All of a sudden, there was nothing holding her down anymore and she practically jumped on all fours. She spat mud and wiped her eyes, all the while trying to force her damn legs to carry her weight for a few more minutes. Before her mind could register what was happening, someone lifted her and carried her in their arms. It took her a moment to realize that someone had come back for her. The person carrying her finally reached the woods and Lucy knew they would reach the cars soon.

She thought they had when the person stopped, but they were still in the woods. Her eyes were finally starting to see again, but it was her savior's voice that gave him away.

"Move out of the way, Elfman," Laxus ordered.

Elfman was here? Lucy turned her head to have a look at him. Her vision was blurry, but the large man with white hair blocking their way undoubtedly was her friend.

"I can't do that, lieutenant," Elfman retorted, his voice stern.

Lucy gritted her teeth and used Laxus' shoulder as a lever to turn in his arms and face the traitor she still couldn't help but see as a friend.

"Why are you doing this, Elfman!?" she yelled at him. "Why are you betraying your friends and family!? Do you have any idea how devastated Mira is now that she lost the two of you!?"

Lucy didn't need a perfect vision to see that Elfman's whole body was so tense it looked like a marble statue. His fists were clenched around the rifle he was holding.

"This wouldn't have happened if they hadn't betrayed the country," the man breathed out, obviously grieving for his little sister as well.

"Stop bullshitting me," Lucy roared. "Your sister was in the medical team! They killed her with no reason, she wasn't a threat to anyone!"

All of a sudden, as if something had finally snapped inside of him, Elfman screamed and cried.

"I KNOW THAT, ALRIGHT!? HOW DO YOU THINK IT FEELS LIKE WHEN YOU DON'T KNOW WHO THE REAL TRAITOR IS ANYMORE!?"

He fell to his knees after that outburst and hid his face in his hands, swaying back and forth.

"They spent months explaining me that you guys were traitors and it was my duty as a friend to make you understand this..." he mumbled, "they said they would forgive everyone... they said that it would be alright, that I could save everyone..."

Lucy couldn't hold her tears back any longer when she saw this. This was what the Octagon had done to the mighty Strauss siblings: two of them were heartbroken and desperate, the younger one had been killed.

Laxus put Lucy down and kept an arm around her waist to help her stand. When he was right beside Elfman, he put his large hand on his shoulder and squeezed it gently.

"You know who the real traitors are," he simply declared.

When they got back to the cars, everyone was ready to go. Erza and Cana ran to her when they saw that she was hurt and Laxus was kind of shoved aside so they could take his place and support her properly. Lucy sighed in relief when she saw that both Erza and the baby seemed to be fine.

"Lucy! We were so worried! What happened to you?"

"You're covered in blood! Where are you hurt?"

"Who do I have to kill?"

Lucy sighed and laughed weakly as she tried to explain them that she was just tired, but her stubborn friends weren't buying this. They helped her reach one of the cars and Lucy followed Laxus from the corner of her eye. He stopped in front of the commander and Lucy saw that he was already looking at her. As usual, he looked anxious, as if expecting something from her. And as usual, despite his obvious desire to run to her, he turned away. Laxus punched his gut, but it wasn't enough to ease the ache in Lucy's heart.

She had no idea what the reason of this change of behavior was. It had started after their first raid on a military base used by the Octagon. Loke got shot and had to undergo surgery so they could take the bullet out of his shoulder. After that, the commander had stopped showing affection to her. He wouldn't even talk to her if he could help it and Lucy didn't dare confront him about it.

"Lulu! Are you okay!?" she would have recognized Dan's voice even if the latter hadn't suddenly jumped in her moving car through the back window. "I heard you got hurt and to be carried back here! How awful! I should have been the one to carry you in my arms!"

"Dan, you're too loud," Erza scolded him.

The blood stains on his clothes and skin were proof that he had fought, but he didn't look like he had been hurt and wasn't even tired. Was this guy even human? She sighed and reassured him, petting his head as if he were a dog. The funny thing was that he actually enjoyed being petted.

"So," he went on with a neutral voice, "when are we going to get married?"

"We're not," she laughed.

"You wanna get killed by the commander?" Cana smirked.

Dan being the oblivious fool he was arched a brow and cocked his head to the side before asking with genuine interest.

"Why would he? He doesn't look like he's interested in her anymore."

Two of the three women in the car turned to glare at him with an impressive amount of hostility, but Lucy just laughed nervously.

"Yeah..."

"Don't listen to this idiot, Lucy," Erza retorted. "Natsu's just stressed out because of all the responsibilities and duties he has since we officially became criminals."

Since when is it normal to avoid people we're supposed to love when we're stressed out? She kept this question to herself, though.

"Right..."

Maybe he had changed his mind and wished he hadn't kissed her in the first place?

"There's an easy way to make sure of that, though," Cana smirked.

"What are you talking about?" Erza sounded so wary, it was almost funny.

"Nah, don't mind me," Cana grinned. "I'm just a drunkard, it's normal for me to say things that don't make sense."

She was so up to something.

"Right," Erza suddenly glanced at Lucy. "You didn't take your medecine yet, did you?"

Lucy shook her head and Cana handed her some pills and a water bottle. Four months ago, she had been hurt during a raid and Porlyusica had to examine her. She realized that something was amiss and used sonography to make a better diagnosis. One of Lucy's kidneys had been lightly damaged, but the other simply wasn't there. It had been removed more than ten years ago, but Lucy had absolutely no memory concerning such a thing. The old doctor supposed that she had been hurt as a child and had to undergo surgery to remove the damaged kidney.

"Don't worry, though," the old doctor had said. "I'll give you an effective treatment that will heal your kidney and you'll be able to live normally even with only one of them."

The Academy had been built in order to be used as a fortress to protect people in case some enemy country were to attack and Makarov being the genius he was made it impossible for the Octagon's troops to put it under siege. The campus was now used as the Resistance's stronghold and headquarters.

Several months earlier, they had to fight their first fight to get the first door back after Elfman's treason. Since then, no enemy troop had been allowed to come near the occupied lands and it was relatively safe to come in and out of the Academy's ground. The guards opened the three main gates one after the other to let the cars enter the campus and they all went to park near the gymnasium.

Lucy sighed in relief when she got out of the car and stretched her back, but she was still a bit weak and didn't expect Cana to push her. Luckily, Dan was right beside her and gladly caught her in his arms. He teased her a bit more about being her prince charming and other childish things that made her laugh until they heard a loud crash from one of the vehicles. The commander had slammed a door so hard that the window glass shattered.

"Hey," Gildarts roared, "this glass is expensive, you bastard!"

The commander was already walking toward the main building and didn't stop to answer the older man.

"As I thought," Cana smirked, "he's pissed off."

It should have pleased Lucy to know that the commander still cared about her, but it didn't.

"Why would he be?" she snorted. "He's the one who's avoiding me."

She turned around to head to the dormitory, intending to walk quickly to show everyone that she was angry. As soon as she did, though, she saw Levy burying her nose in Gajeel's shoulder as the man held her tightly to comfort her. Damn, they were too cute, she didn't feel like being angry anymore. Erza saw them too and Lucy saw in her eyes that she was using all her willpower not to show just how affected she was. Jellal and the others had stopped sending reports three months ago and no one knew where they were or even if they were safe.

Lucy sighed. Everyone had issues, it was childish to pout because the commander wasn't being as affectionate as she wanted him to be. She dragged her exhausted self to the room she now shared with Erza, Levy and Cana – they had invited Juvia as well, but she ended up sharing a room with Gray – to have a quick shower and put clean clothes on. She doubted that Loke would be happy to see her covered in blood. She gulped and used the time she had until she reached the medical wing to practice and make sure that her fake smile would look as reassuring and natural as possible.

She stopped in front of the door of the room and raised a hand to observe it and make sure she wasn't shaking. When she felt ready, she knocked and entered. Loke was lying on his bed and was barely awake. He grinned when he saw her and pushed on his arms to sit up.

"My, what a great surprise," he sang. "Your timing's perfect, I'm done with chemotherapy for today. Just give an hour or so and I'll join you to eat."

After Loke had undergone surgery for the bullet in his shoulder, he told her that he was relapsing. Lucy had done her best to stay strong and comfort him. She had smiled, told him she'd be here for him no matter what, but she couldn't bring herself to tell him that he'd be alright. She had cried herself to sleep that night, Erza holding her in her arms all night long.

She smiled at him and joined him in the bed, lying beside him under the blankets and cuddling with him.

"I'm too tired to eat," she lied. "But you can go if you want."

She knew perfectly well that Loke wouldn't be strong enough to go to the refectory and eat before the next morning, and he knew it as well.

"No way," he laughed. "You'll get lonely without me."

She nodded without any hesitation.

"That's right," she agreed.

Silence followed their short conversation and they both drifted off to sleep. Lucy couldn't remember the dream she had, but she knew it was a nightmare. A terrifying one. She woke up with tears running down her cheeks and saw that Loke was already awake and looking at the door. Someone was slowly opening it. The commander's head finally appeared.

"Hey Loke," he called softly, "how are you..." he froze when he saw her and left right away. "Sorry, I'll come back later."

Loke frowned and sent a questioning gaze to the hurt woman lying beside him.

"What the heck was that?"

Lucy shrugged, trying not to look too affected by the commander's behavior.

"I don't know," she said. "For some reason, he's been avoiding me a lot lately."

"What?" Loke frowned even more. "Did something happen?"

She snorted and bit her cheek to keep control of her emotions.

"You mean after he kissed me? Nothing happened, no. It's getting late, I better leave before Porlyusica kicks me out."

Porlyusica was the Rose's Tear doctor, she had moved to the Academy after the war with the Octagon started and was doing an amazing job healing and terrifying everyone.

"Sure," Loke smiled brightly. "I'll see you tomorrow. Good night!"

Lucy gave him a kiss on the cheek before exiting the room. Outside it was pretty warm, but everyone knew it would start raining soon. Fall was here and it seemed like it would be a stormy season this year. She crossed the field without any problem despite the sky being pretty dark already. On the side of the medical wing, she saw a small figure kneeling in front of the altar they had made in memory of Lisanna Strauss. Lucy gulped as she approached Mira's bent body. She put a gentle hand on her shoulder, but the colonel didn't react.

"Mira," she called softly, kneeling beside her. "It's dark outside, you should come back inside."

"Hmm," the woman answered.

Her eyes were blank and Lucy was pretty sure that she had been kneeling for so long that she couldn't feel her legs anymore. The altar was covered with flowers, plushes and condolence messages.

"I don't know if you heard," Lucy hesitated, "but Erza had a confirmation that the baby will be a boy."

"Hmm."

Lucy gulped hoping she could swallow her pain and anxiety. This woman was the only female officer that had been allowed to teach the Academy's recruits because everyone had been forced to acknowledge her strength. It broke Lucy's heart to see how deeply hurt she was, how hollow she looked. Lucy didn't know if it was a good idea to talk about it, but just wanted Mira to react. She wanted to make sure that her friend was still in there.

"Mira, I saw Elfman today," she told her.

The colonel didn't react in any way this time, not even with a hum. Lucy started to wonder if she was making things worse, but it was too late to back down now.

"I talked to him," she went on. "He knows about Lisanna. He was grief-stricken as well, he didn't know the Octagon was planning to do that. He still loves you, Mira."

This time, Mira's reaction changed. She kept her eyes stuck to the altar, but she allowed her tears to flow out freely. It was the first time in weeks that Lucy saw her show any kind of emotion. She decided it was time to stop treating her like a frail little thing and forcefully grabbed her shoulders to turn her around and pull her into a tight hug. Mira didn't fight back, she grabbed Lucy's shirt and cried her heart's out.

Laxus appeared shortly after that and took Mira back to their room after thanking Lucy. As she walked back to the dormitory, Lucy suddenly found herself facing a recruit holding a gun and pointing it at her. She stopped. They were alone and it was too dark out there for anyone inside the building to see them. She didn't know this recruit. He looked pretty young and was crying, his hand shaking.

"I'm sorry," he sobbed, "I just want this to stop."

Lucy held his gaze and answered calmly.

"You won't get the reward if you kill me," she reminded him.

Several months earlier, the Octagon had sent a new proposal to the officers fighting for the Resistance stating that they would renounce arresting Jude Heartfilia and forgive everyone who wasn't an officer if they handed Lucy to them. They also promised a reward to anyone that would bring Lucy to them, as long as she's alive. There was one time when a recruit tried to break her legs with a hammer in her sleep. Unfortunately for him, Lucy still shared a room with the commander back then.

"I don't care about the reward," he cried. "My little sister died yesterday because they bombed the wrong place thinking you were there!"

Lucy's stomach churned at this. Every time someone died, she knew they did because the Octagon was trying to catch her. They knew it for sure now, since the Octagon was willing to let Jude go, it meant that she was the the sole cause of the war. Six months earlier, people started dying for her and she had no idea why. She gulped and forced herself to hold his gaze.

"I'm so sorry," she genuinely assured.

The recruit shed more tears and bit his lip.

"I know," he sobbed. "I know this isn't your fault, but I just can't stand it anymore... I'm so sorry..."

Lucy heard the gunshot, but never felt the pain. Instead, the recruit fell to the ground and started crying and screaming in pain while holding his arm. The commander and Gray walked out of the shadows and the former kneeled beside the recruit to make sure the wound wasn't that serious.

"Sorry, dude," he said, "I can't let you do that."

He stood back up and turned to look at her. When his eyes finally found hers, she froze and her heart hammered in her chest. It was begging her to do something, to use this opportunity to prevent him from distancing himself from her anymore.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

It wasn't enough. She didn't need his polite concern, she could get plenty of that with the doctors and the other officers. He finally noticed how agitated she was and tensed in response.

"You should go to sleep," he mumbled. "I'll go get Porlyusica for him. Gray will stay here to keep an eye on him."

As he turned away, every fiber of her being fought furiously to get her to move or at least say something. She had to call him back and ask for explanations, she needed him by her side now more than ever. But she didn't do anything and only watched him as he headed to the medical wing. Gritting her teeth and swallowing back the tears of frustration that threatened to come out, she turned away, not missing the sad look Gray sent her.

* * *

oOo

* * *

Despite her state of exhaustion, it took Lucy two hours to fall asleep. Levy came back to the room a bit before that and Lucy could guess looking at the marks on her neck and thighs that she had been playing cards with Gajeel. Erza fell asleep while caressing her baby bump, as usual.

At approximately three in the morning, Lucy almost died of a heart attack as someone kicked their door open and entered the room screaming like a mad man.

"Erza!" the commander yelled and received a heavy punch in the face.

"Don't yell like that," the redhead growled, "you scared the baby! And what the hell are you doing here at this hour?"

The commander massaged the bridge of his nose and stood back up with a bright smile on his face.

"Sorry about that," he laughed. "I just had to come!"

"Why?" Levy asked, still trying to calm down. Cana was still sleeping. "What happened?"

It was Lucy's first time seeing such a bright smile on the commander's face. He looked so happy one could have thought he was ten years younger than he really was.

"A messenger arrived from the border," he explained. "Jellal's fine! He's on his way back as we speak!"

Lucy and Levy cheered loudly upon hearing this and hugged Erza, who was trying to fight back her tears of relief and happiness. Natsu watched them with a bright smile until Erza's hand reached out and he joined them.

They recognized Jellal's handwriting on the piece of paper the messenger had brought. It said that Warrod had died, but Kagura and himself were safe. Unfortunately, they had failed to kill Hades. They had a lot more of important information to give Makarov, but they couldn't risk writing them, so they'd have to wait for their return. The only thing they knew was that Hades had lost an arm and had been severely burned in the attack.

They played around for a bit more and Lucy couldn't exactly remember how it went, but when she woke up the next morning, the commander was sleeping beside her with his arm on her waist. She slowly turned in his arms, careful not to wake him up, and stared at his face. He looked peaceful and she felt reassured. She decided to be bold since she rarely had the opportunity to be this close to him and embraced him, her hands gripping the fabric of his shirt. Still sleeping, he tightened his hold on her and buried his nose in her hair. Relishing the feeling of peace and bliss that automatically spread inside her whenever she was in his arms, she fell back asleep.

When she woke up for good, the commander had left.

* * *

oOo

* * *

As promised, Loke was up and sitting at their table the next morning. Seeing him smile this brightly and generally being the loud moron everybody loved so much, one couldn't simply imagine him lying in bed, being on a drip to help him eat, breath and receive treatment. He turned his head to the side when he saw her come in and waved like a child. When she sat next to him, Lucy noticed that he had barely eaten anything. She glanced at him and he sighed, distractedly scratching his head under the military cap he now wore almost all the time.

"Don't look at me like that," he said, "I'm not that hungry yet, but I'll eat more later."

"I didn't say anything," she chuckled.

Loke smiled sadly. All his friends tried very hard to behave the way they always did with him, but you could see in his eyes that he wasn't buying it.

"So," Gray sat in front of Erza and smiled, "I heard that Jellal's coming back. Of course, no one doubted that he would, eventually."

"Of course," the redhead agreed. "He's not the kind of man that will be brought down that easily."

That was probably the cutest thing Erza could say about a man.

"Juvia agrees," Juvia agreed. "Jellal's strong. Not as strong as Gray, though."

No one was sure how things would have turned out if these two had started fighting over who was the strongest boyfriend, but they fortunately would never find out.

"Jellal isn't the only one coming back, though," Sting said. "I heard three of Ultear's most trusted men would join us tonight."

"Really?" Erza frowned, not understanding why that brat knew something that she didn't. "Who?"

The young man shrugged and resumed eating, clearly showing what was important in his eyes.

"No idea," he mumbled, "it's a secret, apparently."

"Exactly," the commander sighed and slapped the back of his head. "Which means you're not supposed to go telling everybody about it. Though, we were already planning to tell you all about it. Where did you even hear that?"

"I'm a surprising man," the moron smirked, earning another slap.

"And who are those trump cards the boss was hiding?" Gajeel asked.

The commander sighed and shook his head.

"I'd tell you if I could," he assured, "but Gramps wants it to be a surprise... Alright, hurry up. We've got a new rescue mission. Gray, Gajeel, Erza, Cana, Sting and Lucy, go get ready and meet me in an hour in the parking lot."

"Can I come too?" Rogue asked shyly.

"Sorry, dude," the commander shook his head. "We already have four teams of six. Maybe next time."

Rogue looked disappointed and Lucy understood why. Rescue missions almost always ended well and thus greatly helped lift their spirits. They were still at war, but they were saving people instead of shooting them. Lucy loved these missions as well, but she felt guilty looking at Rogue's sad face.

"He can take my place if he really wants to go, though," she said.

The commander silently stared at her with unexpressive eyes to the point that it became embarrassing until he finally answered.

"Unfortunately, you don't get to decide such things," he retorted. "And we need you there."

His voice was cold, his tone distant and his eyes blank. Lucy gulped and decided to remain silent as he turned around and walked away.

"Da hell?" Gajeel growled.

Loke suddenly stood up and ran after the commander. Lucy and her friends watched him with confused eyes as he grabbed the commander's shoulder and dragged him out of the refectory. A mere minute after that, someone sat in the chair in front of Lucy and the young woman found herself facing a grinning Dan.

"Hello, there," he sang. "You look as beautiful as always!"

Lucy smiled back and at that moment the boys starting seeing Dan as a potential threat while the girls started seeing him as an option.

* * *

oOo

* * *

The rescue team was divided in four groups of six people each. They were supposed to go to the abandoned iron factory, near the new hospital. The fastest way would be to cross the large suspension bridge over the Klaus river, so they decided to head there. Before leaving, Natsu and the other team leaders told them that they were going to fetch a small group of deserters that betrayed the army and refused to fight for the Octagon anymore.

"They're hiding in the factory as we speak. It's gonna be simple," he concluded, "we get them and we come back here. Any question?"

As expected seeing how easy this mission was, no one had any question. Well, Lucy had one, but it had nothing to do with the mission. Why in the world was Mira coming with them? True, she looked a bit better than the day before, but she was still obviously not ready to join them. Laxus was right by her side and Lucy wasn't sure if she was imagining things, but she thought that he was discreetly holding her hand. Laxus being this affectionate towards another human being while being in public was quite the rare sight, so Lucy didn't dare say anything. She'd just make sure to protect her friend while they were out of the Academy.

In the car, Sting kept complaining about a guy called Mest that wouldn't leave his brother alone.

"Rogue's gotten weird since he hangs out with that bastard!" he roared. "Yesterday, he asked me how he looked with his new shirt! Rogue never cared one bit about such things, dammit!"

"Isn't it cute?" Erza asked. "Your brother has a crush on someone, be happy about it."

"That's not cute at all," Sting protested, "it's awful! My brother's starting to trust a stranger as much as he trusts me! Soon, he'll spend more time with him, too! I have to stop them!"

"Don't you dare do that," both girls growled, glaring at him.

"Ok..."

The cars suddenly came to a stop and Lucy frowned when she noticed that they hadn't even crossed the bridge yet.

"What's happening?"

The commander got out of the car and saw that the other team leaders had to stop because of five large concrete barrier blocks.

"We can't move them, so we'll have to go on foot," Laxus said. "It's pretty close by, anyway."

"Alright," the commander agreed. "Pick two guys in each team, they'll stay here and watch the cars."

They used rock paper scissors to decide on who'd have to stay. In Natsu's team, Sting and Lucy lost the game and had to watch the car while the others would head to the factory. Before they left, though, Cana smirked at Lucy and came close enough to tell her something she'd be the only one to hear.

"There's actually a way to cheat at rock paper scissors," she said. "I'll teach you when we get back."

Lucy glared at her as she ran to join the others. Fifteen minutes passed as she had to listen to Sting complaining about each and every little thing happening in his life. He complained some more about Mest, complained about the humid weather, complained about the lack of sleep.

"Did you know Natsu sleep talks?" he asked. "That's such a pain in the ass. He keeps mumbling incomprehensible things about being sorry and how he's got to bear with it, or something like that..."

Lucy frowned and arched a brow at him.

"What did you say?"

"I said I'm tired," he whined, "you don't even listen to me!"

"No, about the commander sleep talking," she corrected.

"That's not important," the moron wailed, "I'm suffering, ya hear!?"

Before Lucy could threaten to cause him even more suffering, the sound of a violent detonation made them jump. They turned around and saw a huge cloud of black smoke rising from the other side of the bridge. Soon after, they heard gunshots and screams. An ambush.

Lucy grabbed her precision rifle and ran towards the bridge as quickly as she could, ignoring Sting's protests and questions. She just told him to stay there and watch the cars. As she approached the source of the uproar, she saw that the path had been blocked ahead with military trucks. Not wasting any time, she looked around her and found several metal cables she could use to climb up the suspension tower. She smirked as she thought of the day she had climbed trees to steal a flag during a game in the Academy. She hoped she'd do better now than she did back then.

After a few minutes of climbing, she reached the horizontal suspension cable and used it to move sideways and approach the battlefield. As expected, she found lots of enemy soldiers below, but they didn't seem to be dominating the fight. In fact, Lucy's friends were very close to surrounding them. Just in case she could provide some help, Lucy sat down on the cable and wrapped her legs around a pole to steady herself.

This was undoubtedly the most dangerous, stupid thing she'd ever done this far. Using the scope to survey the battlefield, she checked on everyone's situation. Gray and Gajeel were fighting with the commander and other members of the Resistance while Cana was protecting Erza. Her favourite drunkard even managed to make three soldiers run straight to the edge and fall off the bridge. Lucy smirked and switched targets to see how Mira was doing. She found Laxus giving orders and directions to lead the attack, but no Mira by his side.

Starting to worry, she searched the bridge for a few more minutes until she found her. She was lying on the ground, holding her bleeding leg. An enemy soldier was standing above her, pointing his gun at her head. It took Lucy less than two seconds to understand that this man had shot her leg and was about to kill her. She aimed, but someone suddenly appeared in her field of view and hid the target.

"Fuck," she cursed.

From her position, it was impossible to change positions and look for another firing line. She got even more confused when she recognized the newcomer. Elfman was visibly talking animatedly with the soldier holding the gun. Lucy tried adjusting her aim, but the chance of hitting Elfman was still very high. She hesitated. Elfman had betrayed them, would it really be such a big deal if she were to hurt him in order to save Mira?

When Elfman finally joined the enemy soldier and went to stand by his side, though, any kind of hesitation vanished at once. Mira's brother was ready to sacrifice his own sister, the only one he had left. Lucy aimed at the soldier holding the gun, not caring anymore if Elfman was going to move in her way. Down there, all her friends were desperately trying to shove their enemies aside and get to Mira. Laxus was literally going crazy.

A sudden very strong gust of wind almost threw Lucy off balance and she had to use one of her hands to grip the pole. Shit, this really wouldn't be easy. Not wasting any time, she aimed again. To her great surprise, she saw Elfman jump at the soldier and push the rifle up. It wasn't the time to be surprised, this was the perfect opportunity she had been waiting for. She shot the soldier and hit his shoulder. Damn, she had been aiming for his head. Her sudden intervention confused the enemies and Laxus jumped on the occasion to run and fetch the injured Mira.

Right after Lucy's shot, several things happened all at once and each of them had a very significant impact on the course of events. After Laxus got away from the enemies with Mira in his arms, the now injured solider that had been threatening her got angry and aimed at Elfman. Another strong gust of wind hit Lucy just as she aimed at him once more, preventing her from shooting when she had the occasion to do so. The commander, Gray and Gajeel all ran in Elfman's direction when they saw that the latter was trying to join them. Erza ran too and Cana ran after Erza. None of them made it on time. Just as Lucy managed to adjust her aim once more, she got a nice view of the enemy soldier aiming at Elfman.

She shot right away, it all happened in less than a second. She hit the bullseye, but he did too. Elfman was hit just as he jumped over the railing, intending to use it as a shield as he ran towards his friends. The bullet hit him in midair and he fell off the bridge. A heavy, deep silence ensued. Even the wind stopped, as if the world itself was warning them: it shouldn't have happened.

Mira's heart wrenching wail even shocked the enemies. Lucy felt like a hand made of ice had gripped her heart and sent thousands of sharp needles within her body. They pierced her bones and attested the reality of what they had just seen. Elfman was coming back home and they shot him. For a long while, no one moved and they finally understood that the man Lucy had shot was the leader. Without him, they had no idea how to face the new situation. Still sitting on her cable, unable to do anything more to save or avenge Elfman, Lucy shed tears of grief and frustration. Erza took Mirajane in her arms as the latter burst into tears. The young sniper saw Gray wipe his eyes, and even Gajeel had his head hidden between his arms.

After that, everyone kind of felt like the fight had ended already. Elfman's death had been a blow much too heavy for the allied forces. As for the enemy soldiers, they surrendered. Laxus ordered everyone to go back to the cars and head to the Academy, they would take no prisoner. It was also decided that they'd send a team to search for and recover Elfman's body.

"It's our duty to hold a proper funeral for one of our friends," Laxus declared. "Especially when he died a hero."

As they were nearing the edge of the bridge, Lucy felt a large hand on her wrist. The commander gently pulled her to him and she didn't resist it at all. How long had it been since he had last held her of his own free will? He waited until he was sure they were out of hearing range and glared at her.

"If you ever do something this dangerous again," he growled, "I'll kill you myself."

Lucy didn't even try to hide her disappointment. Just when she thought he was finally coming back to her, it turned out that he was only scolding her. Sure, it meant that he still cared and worried about her, but it wasn't what she wanted from him.

"Okay..."

She turned away from him, but he held her wrist tighter. She sent him a glance over her shoulder and arched a brow when she saw how serious he looked. It was obvious that he had too many things to say and didn't know where to start, so Lucy helped him.

"Do you regret having kissed me?"

The question stunned him so much that he struggled to find his words.

"Damn..." he sighed and shook his head. "So, this is what you imagined..."

"One could hardly blame me," she mumbled.

The sad look in his eyes instantly made her feel a bit guilty, but he had been a jerk for the last few months, so...

"I don't regret it at all," he retorted. "You can't imagine how many times I... Whatever, it's just not what you think at all."

"If you say so..."

When she turned away once more, the commander finally lost patience and pulled her back a bit harder. His large hands cradling her face, enveloping her cheeks and neck, he leaned forward and pressed his lips against hers with an unflinching determination that stupefied her. Her first reflex was to push his stomach, but he ignored it and gave her a moment to grasp the situation. Her hands soon grasped the fabric of his shirt as she responded to the kiss with a reassured sigh that came out as an embarrassing moan. He smirked with satisfaction when he pulled away and saw that she was glaring at him.

"I thought I was being considerate, but I was wrong," he explained. "I can't really give you the details because I'll look like an idiot, but I finally understood that I was messing everything up. When I did, though, you always looked sad whenever I was around, so..."

Lucy gulped and did her best not to show that she felt like the weight of the whole world had been lifted off her shoulders. She didn't know who he was trying to be considerate of, but she was glad that it was over.

"I have to admit that I feel kinda great knowing how much you missed me," he smirked again. "I guess I'll have to make it up to you."

At first, she intended to deny what he said, but she really liked the idea of having him trying his best to make it up to her, so she kept quiet.

Sting cried like a baby when he heard about Elfman and Natsu had to knock him out to prevent Mira from seeing him. The girls of the team switched cars to sit with Mira and comfort her, but the colonel wouldn't respond to any of them. One would have thought that the loss of her brother would have been the last straw and that her mind would have broken down. Most of the people accompanying them for this mission thought so as well. When Lucy and her close friends looked into the colonel's eyes, though, what they saw wasn't despair. They saw ice cold wrath.

* * *

 **End of chapter 26**

Here's the first chapter of the second part! As promised, things will progress much faster from now on and you will soon meet new characters that will bring new elements to the story and help our main characters reach the whole truth!

To everyone who got this far with me, reading the story and sending all kinds of messages to support and help me: thank you so very much from the very bottom of my heart! I read absolutely every review and even though I can't always answer them, you guys made this whole writing thing awesome and it's a real pleasure to write for you! The end of the story's already written and I'm confident that you'll love it!

As always, don't hesitate to tell me what you've thought of the new chapter!

Note: I changed my mind about one of the main characters I was planning to kill, this one will survive (yay!)

2nd note: Erza's baby's name's already decided!

3rd note: About Loke... I'm sorry about the sad news, but I'm not done with him just yet! Don't worry, Loke will keep being an important part of the story and will even become a freaking hero very soon!

4th note: I don't like that new Touka girl (100 years quest), but maybe I'll change my mind about her as the story goes on...

More important note: I'm seriously considering writing an actual, original book based on this story.


	27. Chapter 27: Birth of the Tactician

**DAUNTLESS**

Chapter XXVII – Birth of the Tactician

* * *

" _The skillful tactician may be likened to the shuai-jan. Now the shuai-jan is a snake that is found in the Ch'ang mountains. Strike at its head, and you will be attacked by its tail; strike at its tail, and you will be attacked by its head; strike at its middle, and you will be attacked by head and tail both."  
― Sun Tzu, The Art of War_

* * *

 _\- Juvia -_

* * *

It was the first day of her new mission and Juvia got the message in the indicated place, stuck under a trash bin in the small alley behind the building she currently lived in. She put it in the pocket of her shirt before going back inside and climbing up the stairs. She knew her apartment was safe, but she also knew it was best to always keep her guard up when on a mission. She locked the door when she was inside and checked the street below through the windows. It was still very early, it would have been weird to find someone walking around outside. She sat down on her bed and unfolded the small piece of paper. The code was the same as usual and she read,

«Elfman dead – Mission shortened – Suspicious enemy moves – come back in three days».

Juvia stared at the first two words. Elfman had died. She assumed he had been killed during the rescue mission the others took just before she left for her own mission. Had he been killed by one of her friends? Juvia knew she had no right to judge anybody on that matter, but she still hoped it wasn't the case. Poor Mirajane probably felt miserable...

She didn't know if she felt better now that her mission had been shortened. The obvious good point was that she'd spend less time in the lab, but she would have to hurry to gather some relevant information. Three days weren't enough. She had intended to spend her first day quietly observing things, but she'd have to be more active. With renewed determination, Juvia stepped out of the apartment.

She had to show her pass five times to five different teams of security agents before she reached the lab. Since she was new, she also had to be frisked two times before she was allowed to enter the building. Makarov had anticipated all this, so Juvia had no mike or anything suspicious on her. Instead, she had a miniature camera and a new kind of funny toy hidden in the heels of her shoes. A tall woman with long blond hair came to get her at the entrance.

"You must be miss Pluie," she smiled elegantly. "Welcome to the fifth laboratory. My name is Carabine Loyer and I'm the team leader of the medical team. Since it's your first day here, you'll have a colleague training you."

As she gave her explanations to Juvia, Carabine Loyer made them walk along long corridors flanked by heavy doors. Juvia paid attention to every detail she could see while distractedly listening to the team leader. This woman was all but overflowing with confidence and she seemed to really enjoy the sound of her own voice. They climbed down a long set of stairs and Juvia learned several interesting things without even having to ask.

"… I understand it might sound boring, but it won't last long, don't worry. Starting from tomorrow, you'll be working with the subjects. Of course, you'll always have a colleague with you, so don't worry about making mistakes. If you turn out to be rather skilled, you'll also get to work on the most damaged subjects."

At the end of the corridor, they found two large doors and Carabine opened the right one. The left one looked even larger than any of the others she had seen in the lab. Juvia instinctively frowned, but was back to her neutral self a second later. It was her job to learn everything she could about the subjects and the experiments. If she didn't do anything outstanding, she'd have to wait for the next day to work with the subjects. She couldn't afford wasting so much time.

"The subjects?" she asked. "I assume they're homeless people of some sort. How come they suffer damage from the experiments?"

Miss Loyer chuckled at her question.

"It's good to be this interested in the job," she said, "I remember feeling the same way when I was your age. You'll have to be patient, though."

Juvia did her best to hide her frustration and followed Carabine in a room full of scientific equipment where she met the colleague that would be in charge of teaching her everything she needed to know. He was an old man in his fifties and smelt bad. He took her to the refectory for lunch break and she only managed to get him off her back when she left to go to the toilet. She found the room almost right away, but kept walking as she looked for a specific place.

She walked to the end of the corridor and climbed down a familiar set of stairs that led her to another, darker corridor. She frowned. The place really looked creepy when the lights weren't on. Gulping, she walked to the two doors. She knew the one on the right led to the underground lab where she had spent all morning. The door on the left was the reason of her presence. It was a large door made of some really thick looking metal. As expected, Juvia didn't hear a sound coming from the other side, even when she pressed her ear against it.

She took a step back and studied the lock. She was almost 100% sure that the subjects were being kept behind this door, and the complicated locking system almost confirmed this. Juvia took a moment to focus on the sounds around her and make sure she was alone before taking off her left shoe. She opened the tiny capsule hidden in the heel and took out the even tinier robot hidden in it, putting it on the lock. Juvia had no idea how it worked, but she knew thanks to Mest's explanations that the miniature robot would be able to crack the lock. The tiny thing suddenly grew cute little spider legs and entered the lock. It clicked open a second later.

Juvia checked her watch, she had ten minutes left before the afternoon shift. With a last look behind her, she opened the heavy door and entered the room.

* * *

\- _Lucy_ -

* * *

When the Academy officially became a traitors' lair, Makarov thought it was necessary for his kids to have a place where they could gather and relax. Almost everybody had helped arrange the hall with sofas and armchairs, thick, soft carpets and colorful cushions in front of a large television. They called this place the Foyer. Lucy and the others were sitting there in silence while the officers were having a meeting in the general's office. Lucy was sitting on the largest couch with Levy's head on her laps, the small woman's legs resting on Gajeel's laps. Sting was sitting on a particularly large cushion while his brother sat on the carpet, his back lying against Mest's legs.

"I'm out of booze," Cana groaned. "And I had four cans. How long are they planning to have us wait?"

Bacchus groaned his agreement, but kept quiet.

"Shouldn't be much longer," Loke said, glancing at Gray. "They probably didn't know about the trap before they sent Juvia on this reconnaissance mission. Things just got much more complicated."

Gray groaned in annoyance and let out a humorless snort.

"Things aren't complicated at all," he retorted. "They should cancel her mission and order her to come back."

Gray was an introvert, but even so, everyone knew about his feelings for the nurse. It was probably killing him to be unable to go there and take her place. Juvia had shown everyone during training just how strong and smart she really was, they didn't need to worry that much about her. But now that the Octagon was hunting rebels among their own comrades, Juvia's mission could very well be life-threatening.

"I don't think they should call her back," Gajeel said. He received dark looks from almost everyone, but ignored them and went on, "she infiltrated one of the Octagon's main labs, just imagine what kind of crucial information she'll have access to. We can't afford to pass such a great opportunity."

Gray glared at him and the look in his eyes sent icy shivers down Lucy's back.

"Her life's much more important than any information we could get from this shitty mission," he growled lowly. "If anything happens to her, I'll fucking blow the whole building up."

Bacchus smirked at this and Lucy rolled her eyes when he answered,

"Atta boy," he cheered. "That's what a real man sounds like."

Lucy froze and all her friends did as well. Bacchus hadn't spent much time with them, he couldn't have known about Elfman's signature line. In her head, she still could see his large grin and hear his raspy voice as he yelled silly lines about being a real man. She gulped down the knot that had formed in her throat and did nothing to break the heavy silence that fell upon the room.

A moment later, they heard a door open and familiar voices approached them from the other end of the corridor. Natsu and Erza were the first ones to enter the Foyer, all eyes on them. Gray jumped from his seat and stared at the commander. Levy sat up to give him some space and the pink haired man took a seat between her and Lucy.

"So?" Gray pressed.

The commander glanced at everyone and sighed.

"We had to make decisions," he warned. "Some of them you won't like. Starting with the general mission orders, rescue missions won't be conducted anymore..."

This first information was enough to make the room seem darker and colder. Unfortunately, Lucy and her friends weren't done with the bad news. The commander told them that Mirajane would be part of the team that would go retrieve Elfman's body, but none of them were allowed to accompany them. They also learned that Juvia's mission wouldn't be cancelled, only shortened.

"Shortened?" Gray growled. "We have no idea what's going on with the Octagon, but she's not allowed to come back?"

"It would be even more dangerous for her to run from there now," Erza explained. "Our enemies would get suspicious of her."

Gray growled in annoyance and shook his head.

"She's already in danger," he retorted. "At least, tell us where she is. There's no need to keep her mission a secret anymore."

Erza sent him a dark look that was almost enough to calm him down.

"It's precisely because she's in danger that we need to keep her whereabouts a secret," she countered. "Don't worry, though, if something goes wrong, the robot Mest gave her will send us a signal."

The young man shook his head once more and snickered.

"Really?" he groaned. "Awesome, I feel totally reassured now."

Lucy kind of stopped listening to their bickering and tried to think about everything the commander had told them. They wouldn't be conducting any more rescue missions, they weren't allowed to leave the base if not necessary, Mira was running down a dangerous path for the sake of revenge, Juvia's mission was much more dangerous than they had imagined...

"Things are getting out of our control," she whispered to herself.

It wasn't that she was losing hope or feeling sorry for herself because everything was crashing down around her, though. Saying this out loud, even if it was just a whisper, made it easier for her to think about all this as a sole problem. Thinking of it in terms she could easily understand, it was like the mechanism of a clock: a gear had been misplaced and now the whole structure was falling apart. You could think of it as a demonstration of the butterfly effect. At some point, something must have gone wrong and they failed to notice it.

"Alright, everybody get up," the commander ordered.

The young man received a lot of confused looks, but nobody moved.

"If you want to feel miserable, I'll help you," he smirked. "Training time. None of you will have any energy left to get depressed after that."

While almost everyone groaned at this, Gajeel smirked back and rose to his feet to face the commander.

"Anything you can do, I can do it with the shrimp on my back," he assured with a cocky grin.

"I take the bet," the commander immediately agreed. "If you lose, I'll have you follow me around all day long with a leash around the neck."

Lucy and the others laughed at the sight of Gajeel's smirk fading from his face upon hearing the stupid condition for the bet. Loke suggested that Gajeel should have something to gain from this if he were to win and it was decided that the commander would have to let the girls give him a makeover if he lost.

Since things got this funny and everyone desperately needed to distract themselves, it didn't take long for all of them to run to the field. Since Gray also wanted to make a bet with Jet, more bets were made to make things more interesting. Gray wanted to know if he was faster than Jet, the loser of the race would have to wear high heels for a whole day. Sting challenged Erza to see who was the strongest. The race came first and Jet actually had the nerve to wait for Gray near the finish line to cross it at the very last moment. Sting did a pretty decent job considering his opponent was Erza, but the woman knocked him out with a high kick.

Gray and Sting both lost, but Gajeel actually managed to do everything Natsu could do even with Levy on his back. It was really funny to watch, Levy looked like a baby koala clinging to her mother. Eventually, though, Natsu decided to play it dirty. He knew very well that Levy was afraid of heights, so he decided to climb up a tree. Gajeel tried to follow him, but Levy wouldn't stop slapping him and threatening to kill him if he made her climb that damn tree, so he lost.

"Alright, that's it for the kid games," Cana beamed. "Lucy, let's see if you can drink more than me. The loser will have to do a strip tease dance in front of everybody."

It was nearly impossible to hear the commander's protests among all the cheers and laughs, but Lucy heard the ''Hell no!'' he roared and actually considered accepting the bet just to tease him. Something prevented her from doing it, though. A light beeping sound that came from one of their friends.

Everyone turned to Mest as the young man pulled something small out of his pocket. He frowned at it and sent his friends a worried look.

"That's the signal," he explained. "Juvia's been caught."

* * *

\- _Juvia_ -

* * *

The door fortunately opened without making a sound, but Juvia was quick to close it behind her. The room she had just entered was dark, only lit by blue neon tubes. Despite the darkness of the room, the spy managed to make out several rows of jars sitting on long tables and another door on the other side of the room.

Carefully, Juvia approached the tables to inspect the contents of the jars. At first, she couldn't really recognize what was floating in the eerie liquid substance inside, but she found handwritten notes on the longest table and started reading them as quickly as she could. She was quick to understand that they were medical files and belonged to very young people, but they all seemed to be in very good condition. Juvia opened the most recent file, the one on top of the pile, and read it. This one had an additional comment on the first page,

 _'Very useful subject; blood compatibility: high; complex tissues: promising. Still not perfect compatibility; need of material from subject 13'_

Juvia frowned and closed the file. This one was the 117th. She gulped when she understood that the files belonged to the guinea pigs. From what she found in the other files, most of them were children, teenagers or young adults. Thanks to Mest's miniature camera, Juvia took pictures of the files, making sure to properly capture the names of the subjects and of the researchers, the dates and every valuable information she could get.

On the other end of the room, she found a large desk on which sat several thick books. Juvia opened the one on top of the pile and frowned almost immediately. Thanks to Porlyusica and Erza's lessons, she was able to understand the medical lingo right away. With this book and the files, it didn't even take her a minute to understand what this lab was being used for. The only remaining question was why in the world would the Octagon allow such a thing?

Juvia glanced at her watch and saw that she had less than four minutes left before the end of lunch break. She hesitated. With the pictures she had taken of the files and the book, she had enough evidence. Her mission was already a success, she didn't need to take any more risks. But Juvia was smart and had a very reliable instinct that she couldn't ignore that easily. She was absolutely sure that the subjects were being kept on the other side of that second door. After all, inside the creepy jars all around her were their organs...

 _"Just a glance_ ," she thought, " _I won't even enter the room."_

With a heavy sigh, the nurse pushed the door open. The very first thing she heard were sobs. She gulped. It was so dark in there that she couldn't see anything at all. She opened the door wider and the sobs turned into cries as the weak blue light struggled to enter the room. If she squinted her eyes and focused very hard on the shapes in the room, she could somehow make out a row of large boxes, beds and tables, but it was way too dark to see them clearly. Where were the cries coming from?

With a last glance behind her, Juvia braced herself and fully entered the room. Surprisingly, her eyes adjusted to the darkness much faster now that she was in the room. She hesitantly took a few steps forward, careful not to walk on the large metal roots made of entangled cables. When she finally found the tables and machines to which the cables were connected, Juvia froze.

The subject lying in front of her couldn't be older than six and Juvia couldn't tell if he was alive or not. He was breathing, but covered in large, recent scars that let the spy know he had just undergone different types of surgery. The most shocking thing about the sight of this boy was the cross shaped scar on his shaved head. Even without being a professional surgeon, Juvia could tell that this boy couldn't be saved anymore. If she were to check the content of the file concerning this boy, she'd probably find that he had barely any organ left.

 _"What if I had been sent here a few days earlier_ ," she wondered. " _How many of them could have been saved if I had been sent here just a few days earlier?"_

Gritting her teeth and clenching her fists, Juvia turned away from the table and her eyes fell on the boxes piled against the walls. They were in fact cages, each of them containing three or four subjects. Some of them were crying, most of them weren't even conscious. It couldn't wait. Juvia knew she didn't have the authority to change the mission's objectives, but she would be damned if she walked out of there without doing anything for these people.

"The robot," she whispered to herself, "where's the robot?"

Mest had told her that she could use the tiny robot to send them a signal and request for reinforcements if needed. This little thing was really useful, she'd have to thank Mest for everything.

"Are you perhaps looking for this?"

Juvia blenched and turned around to find a familiar silhouette on the doorstep. The very blond and very antipathetic Carabine Loyer was smirking at her, holding a minuscule object between two fingers. Juvia gulped when the woman dropped the robot and slammed her heel on it, efficiently destroying it. Juvia felt bad for Mest, she figured it had taken him a very long time to make it.

"I thought you looked suspicious," the blond harpy chuckled. "Your biggest mistake was to underestimate me."

Juvia inwardly smirked. Carabine's biggest mistake was to underestimate Mest: when she stepped on the robot, she activated an emergency device that sent a signal to the Academy.

* * *

\- _Lucy_ -

* * *

"I'll do it," Gajeel said. "I'm the strongest of you all, it gotta be me."

"No, I will," Jet countered. "I'm the fastest guy, they won't even see me."

"Why the heck do you think we'll only send one person?" Erza groaned.

"That's right," Makarov agreed. "We need to pick at least five recruits to form a small team that will infiltrate the lab and rescue Juvia."

"Why only five?" Loke asked. "Why don't we send fifty guys to raid the building?"

Makarov and Erza exchanged an embarrassed look and Gildarts awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck. The latter was finally back from his reconnaissance mission and would take part in the upcoming fights.

"Because we can't afford to sacrifice this much soldiers," Mira answered. The colonel was almost back to her normal self, but she wouldn't smile anymore and it pained Lucy to no end. "If we send five people, it will be a quick, discreet operation. If we were to send a whole unit, we would be in for a bloodbath."

Unsurprisingly, everyone volunteered to be part of the rescue team, but the five who were chosen were Gajeel, Gray, Jet, Sting and Dan.

"We'll spend the next three hours planning the operation," Makarov said. "You're going there tonight."

They were in Makarov's office, but since there were only two chairs and no one wanted to show any sign of weariness, they were all standing around the large desk. Lucy watched in silence as the five of them were then given tracking devices, protective gears, assault rifles, daggers, pistols and silencers, transceivers, mikes and action cameras. She would have given anything to be part of the team, but she respected Makarov's decision.

"We'll keep in touch with you at all times," Mest explained. "Everything you see, we'll see it on the screens. We'll be able to give you directions and you guys will be able to answer us and report your situation at any time."

"Two trucks with reinforcements, weapons and a medical team will be waiting for you near the bridge," Gildarts added. "There are thirty seven employees in the building plus ten security agents with handguns. Here are the blueprints. Two of you will enter through this backdoor, the other three will enter through here and will mostly scout the area. The real danger's situated in this area, where two of you will have to break in."

The explanations went on and on, but Lucy couldn't really focus on what they were saying. She was staring at the map, frowning in confusion. Why did she feel like she'd been there before?

"And that's about it," Laxus ended. "Any question?"

The operation had been planned way too quickly, they needed much more time and preparations. But they couldn't afford to wait any longer.

"Yes," Dan said. "Are we allowed to kill them at first glance?"

A heavy silence fell upon the room as all eyes fell on Makarov. The old man contracted his jaw and glared at the map for a moment before answering,

"Yes," he said. "Shoot to kill."

Lucy glanced at Gray. He hadn't said a word at all during the meeting, but Lucy could read him like an open book. He was more than ready for this and he would have done what was necessary to bring Juvia back, whether he had Makarov's official authorization or not.

* * *

oOo

* * *

When the car and the trucks left, Lucy and the others formed pairs and decided on the turns. Lucy and Loke would take the first turn and keep an eye on the screens and keep the officers updated on the situation. Not the most exciting mission ever, but since none of them were allowed to go to the battlefield, they'd have to make do with what they were given. When they were both accustomed to the various types of monitoring equipment, Loke decided to play with the transceivers.

"Gajeel, your cam's nosing down. Can't you even adjust it properly, dumbass?"

Lucy heard a mumbled ''Fuck off'', but Gajeel did move the cam. Of course, they wouldn't be able to play around like that for much longer, but Lucy figured it was a good idea to ease the atmosphere a bit.

"You guys all have daggers, right?" Loke asked. "Can somebody please cut Jet's hair? This ponytail's seriously ridiculous..."

Lucy laughed as she listened to the fights that ensued: Jet protesting as Sting and Dan both seemed to be willing to play hairdressers. She then glanced at Loke. She heard from Erza that his condition wasn't getting any better, but you'd have trouble believing it when he looked like this. He was laughing like a child playing a prank on his siblings. His smile widened when he caught her eyes.

"Gotta hang up, guys," he chuckled. "Lucy's staring at me like I'm the most beautiful thing she's ever seen. I think it's time to make a move!"

Lucy laughed wholeheartedly at that and her friends' answers didn't help her calm down at all.

"Shut up, pervert."

"We didn't need to hear that..."

"Don't you dare lay a hand on my Lulu!"

"Natsu's gonna kill you both, dumbasses..."

"I'm starving..."

The door of the monitoring room opened and Lucy turned to find the commander entering the room, hands in his pockets. He raised a brow at them as he slumped in a chair beside Lucy.

"And here I thought you guys would be all tensed up," he chuckled. "What's so funny?"

Loke winked at Lucy and smirked as he answered.

"We were flirting," he said. "She's gonna fall for me anytime now."

The commander shook his head and smiled.

"Right," he said. "I don't know why I bothered asking."

"What about you, commander?" Lucy asked. "Why didn't you go with them?"

Lucy only meant to chat, she wanted him to stay longer and was willing to talk about anything to give him a good reason to stay. Had she known the commander's eyes would turn this dark, she probably would have picked another subject of conversation.

"I wish I could have," he sighed. "But Mira's right, we can't afford to send all of our best fighters there..."

Lucy knew how he felt, she was dying to go as well. She stared at the screens and her eyes stayed on Sting's cam. He was looking out the window and the streets looked kind of familiar somehow. The trucks weren't with them anymore, they were probably heading for the bridge where they'd stay on standby.

"It's a shame that Lucy can't bear being away from me," Loke sighed, "I would have gone there to kick their asses."

Lucy faintly heard the boys laughing and teasing each other, but she couldn't take her eyes off the screens anymore. The car was nearing an eery industrial building complex they couldn't see very well because of the large barbed wire fence surrounding the area. Thanks to the scouts' work, they knew where the security cameras and where to hide the car.

"It's starting," she said to get her comrades' attention.

Loke and the commander immediately stopped fooling around and came to sit right by her side to look at the screens. The boys followed the plan and two of them, Jet and Gray, headed for the back of the complex while the others ran for the other hidden entrance. Lucy was so tense it almost felt like she was there with them.

As expected of the five of them and thanks to their amazing protective gears, they managed to climb up the fence an reach their entrance points without getting caught by the cameras or the guards. Lucy held her breath as she stared at the screens. Gajeel and the others were in a huge storeroom that wasn't lighted at all, but she couldn't tell where exactly Jet and Gray were. The latter two were in a very old stone corridor flanked by heavy doors.

"This area wasn't detailed on the blueprints," Gray said.

Indeed, if Lucy's memory was correct, Jet and Gray were supposed to find a storeroom similar to the one Gajeel and the rest found.

"That's fine," the commander took the mike to speak, "go on as we planned. We'll stay in touch to guide you."

"Roger."

The boys walked down the corridor till they found themselves facing another larger door. Lucy saw Gray raise his hand on the screen, but the commander stopped him.

"Check two of the side doors before opening this one," he ordered. "Jet, cover him."

Without a second of hesitation, Jet and Gray went to stand in front of the closest door, on the left side of the corridor. Jet added the suppressor to his gun and raised it to cover Gray as the latter opened the door without wasting a minute. When no enemy or monster came running at them, Lucy released a breath she hadn't realized she had been holding. Inside the room, a lot of metal boxes were gathering dust on large shelves. Jet opened one of them and Lucy heard him groan.

"Medical files, apparently," he said. "I don't understand jack shit about that."

"Same here," Gray added as he was checking another box.

"Ok," the commander answered. "Go on."

The boys walked out of the room and closed the door before going for the one right in front of them, opening it with the same method they had used for the first one. This room looked a lot like the first one, but they were huge books instead of boxes on the shelves. On the screen, Lucy watched as Gray took one and opened it. She couldn't see the letters because of the position of the camera, but Gray was quick to react.

"Fucking hell," he muttered.

"What is it?" Lucy asked. "We can't see what's written."

"And your smart comment isn't much help," Loke added.

Surprisingly, it wasn't Gray that answered.

"It's a trade register," Jet breathed. "They're all trade registers."

Lucy frowned and glanced at her comrades, they both looked as confused as she was. What was so bad about these trade registers? Though, why did they even need trade registers in a laboratory?

"Come on, guys," the commander groaned, "we don't have much time. Give us the information we need and go on."

A minute of silence followed and Gray spoke up, his voice unnaturally neutral as he gave them what they wanted.

"The registers contain detailed information about organ trade," he said. "Blood type, age and medical condition of the donor, price of each organ, name of the buyer, and so on."

Lucy's eyes widened in horror as she turned to stare at the commander. His jaw was contracted, but he didn't really look that surprised. Loke had turned really pale, though.

"I feel sick," he said, "and it's got nothing to do with my condition..."

Through Jet's camera, Lucy could take a good look at the room. They were several thousands of registers on the shelves and they were probably more in the other rooms. The atmosphere in the room was so tense it was almost impossible to breath properly until the commander rose from his chair and went to get the phone.

"Loke, go to Makarov's office and report everything we just learnt," he ordered. "I'll call the drivers of the trucks to tell them to get ready. We need to come back with some of these registers."

Loke nodded and got out of the room. Lucy thought that there was a time not that long ago when he would have run out of the room at full speed. While Natsu was on the phone, Lucy told Jet and Gray to leave this room open and prepare as many registers as they could.

"Leave them here for now," she said, "you'll take them with you when you run away."

"Roger."

When Natsu came back to sit in front of the screens, Gray was opening the largest door at the end of the corridor. This time, the door led to a room full of scientific equipment that seemed to be used to check blood samples and things like that. They'd probably learn more about that from Juvia, but they were most certainly checking the compatibility between the donors and receivers in this room. The boys quickly reached the other side of the room and opened the door. This time they found themselves facing a large, modern corridor leading to a long set of stairs leading up. Lucy froze.

"There's another door right by the one we just opened," Gray said. "Want us to check it out?"

The commander hesitated, but shook his head, something Gray obviously couldn't see.

"Later, if we have enough time," he said. "Go on."

Lucy didn't say anything, but her heart hammered in her chest. She had no idea why, but she was absolutely sure that they needed to open this door.

"Maybe they should open the door," she whispered without needing to, "just to check?"

The commander rose a brow and gave her a questioning look.

"Why?"

"I don't know... just an intuition."

As expected, Natsu didn't want to take any risk that didn't need to be taken. He only said that they'd open the door on their way back if they had enough time. Jet and Gray climbed up the stairs and found that the new corridors finally matched the blueprints they had seen. They managed to check the whole floor without getting caught, but found no trace of Juvia.

At some point, as Lucy was keeping an eye on Gajeel's team, she saw a guard enter Dan's field of view. Before he could do anything, though, Sting knocked him out with one of his famous heavy punches. They tied his hands behind his back and shoved a floorcloth in his mouth before hiding him in a cupboard.

"We need to hurry up and get out of here," Gajeel said. "Now that one of them went missing, they'll soon understand that something's up."

That was true, but...

"But we still haven't found Juvia," Lucy retorted.

"Do you want the lot of us to get caught too?" Gajeel snapped. "We've been looking through the whole building for more than half an hour, it's getting too dangerous!"

Before the commander could say something smart that would most probably have helped the lot of them calm down, Lucy clenched her fists and let her fear get the better of her.

"Are you saying that you'd rather run back here with your tail between your legs?" she roared. "Do you have any idea what they'll make her go through if you come back without her!?"

"I never fucking said that," he roared back. "I'm telling you bastards to call the others back so I can go berserk in there!"

Before Lucy could react to his words, the worst thing that could have happened happened. A guard found them and managed to send a message to his colleagues to warn them. A loud siren was heard immediately after. Damn it all to hell, this was officially the worst day of Lucy's life. Beside her, the commander cursed and slammed his fists on the table. He looked pissed off to no end. Reluctantly, he took the mike and gave his last order.

"All of you retreat immediately," he groaned. "It's an order."

The five of them protested, but Gray's answer was the loudest of all.

"What!?" he roared. "Don't fuck with me, I ain't getting out of here without her!"

The commander massaged the bridge of his nose with two fingers and sighed. He had expected this situation, but it didn't mean that he had control over it.

"I know what I'm asking is cruel," he said, "but you have to understand we don't have a choice any..."

"Would you leave if it was Lucy?" Gray interrupted him. "If you were in my place and Lucy was in Juvia's, would you leave without her?"

The commander froze and clenched his fists. As an officer, he obviously should have answered that yes, he would have left without her. He needed to be a model for the others, someone they knew they could trust and rely on. He was willing to put his life on the line, he'd let himself get caught to protect the others, he'd go through hell for his comrades and give up on his life if needed. But he couldn't sacrifice Lucy. He would give up on absolutely everything and anything but her.

Lucy figured this specific topic brought back his memories of the night of the explosion and she gently placed her hand on his arm, encouraging with a soft smile and a nod. Before the commander could answer, though, someone else appeared on the screen. A tall woman with long blond hair wearing a white blouse was running toward them, but she froze when she saw them properly. Her eyes widened and she turned back to run away. Not quickly enough, though. Lucy had recognized her.

"Jet, catch this woman," she roared in the mike. "Catch her and take her keys!"

Lucy silently thanked Makarov for putting Jet in Gray's team as he was much too fast for this bitch. He caught Carabine Loyer in less than ten seconds and threw her to the floor before taking her keys.

"I've got them," he said. "What do I do now?"

"Give the keys to Gray and punch her lights out for me," she ordered.

Jet hesitated and glanced at the woman without moving an inch.

"What? Are you serious? Why?"

Gray didn't ask any question, though. He took the keys from Jet's hand and did punch the woman's face with almost all his strength.

"Did it feel good?" he asked.

"Very much so. Everyone, listen to me. Gajeel, Dan, Sting, go to the ground floor and gather with Jet in the fourth section of the blueprints. You'll see a long set of stairs there, get down and follow Jet to the room of the registers. Take as many as you can and run away from here."

The commander frowned at her and silently asked her for an explanation, which she gladly gave him right away.

"Gray, turn back and run to the second corridor you saw, the one with the stairs leading down," she said. "I know where Juvia is."

* * *

 **End of chapter 27**

Ayo! It's been so long since I last updated, I owe you guys an apology. Life's been awfully busy and I got sick, but I'm back! Don't worry, the story goes on!

A few changes will occur, though: first, I'm not dividing the story into two parts anymore, it will be one simple story much like the ones everyone on the site publishes. Second, I might write shorter chapters to make sure that you guys won't have to wait this long again! I'm sorry if these changes bother you, but I really think it'll be much simpler for me to write this story now!

Once again, to everyone reading the story and sending messages to support and help me: thank you from the very bottom of my heart! I read absolutely every review and even though I can't always answer them, it's always a real pleasure to hear from you all!


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